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Tigers take care of NU

Photo courtesy of Sam Thiel/Marshall Independent New Ulm’s Brody Bolduan makes a tackle against Marshall’s Dean Pochardt on Tuesday night in Section 2AAAA playoff football action at Southwest State University in Marshall.

By Sam Thiel

Marshall Independent

MARSHALL – The Marshall football team entered Tuesday’s Section 2AAAA opener looking to bounce back from a regular season finale loss to Jordan last week. Meanwhile, the New Ulm Eagles were not only looking to play the spoiler role but was also in search for their first win of the season after going 0-8 in the regular season.

Marshall got the ball to start and never looked back, scoring four times in the opening quarter on its way to a 48-7 victory over the Eagles at Mattke Field.

The Tigers controlled nearly every aspect of the game right from the opening kickoff, as Josh Deines’ return set Marshall up at the New Ulm 33-yard line. Senior quarterback Bryce Paulsen took it in from one-yard out and the Tigers led 7-0.

Marshall’s defense then made its first big play of the night on the ensuing possession, as Deines stepped in front of a pass for an interception. The Tigers capitalized on the turnover, with Jackson Hughes breaking the plane on a short run a few minutes later to extend Marshall’s lead to 14-0 with 9:05 left in the quarter.

The Tigers offense wasn’t done in the frame, though, moving quickly downfield after a short New Ulm punt set Marshall up in Eagles territory. Paulsen then connected with wideout Cody Greve on a pass near the sideline, who then sprinted to the corner of the end zone for the Tigers’ third score of the quarter and first through the air.

After a few punts, Marshall struck again in the passing game, as Paulsen threw a strike to Andrew Mulso to make it 28-0 with 1:35 remaining in the first quarter.

Later, Marshall’s Gabe Raini found an open lane and took it to the end zone to make it 35-0 Tigers. After another punt by New Ulm, Marshall took advantage of the short field position and quickly added to its lead with a Tannyr Curry run to push it to 41-0.

The Tigers first half momentum carried over early on in the third quarter, as Marshall drove into New Ulm territory before a 22-yard run by Dean Pochardt made it 48-0.

New Ulm would continue to piece together quality drives in the fourth quarter, however, getting its first trip into the red zone in the early stages of the frame thanks to a 33-yard run by Sean Howk to put the Eagles at the Marshall two-yard line. But a high snap on the next play would be recovered by the Tigers at their own 20.

The Eagles got one final chance to get on the board in the closing minutes, using a pair of deep passes to drive down to the Marshall five-yard line. Howk then found his way into the end zone with a quick burst to the right side with 24 seconds left to bring it to the 48-7 final.

Marshall finished the game with 426 yards of total offense, including 324 rushing yards, while limiting New Ulm to 174 total yards, including just 38 on the ground.

Paulsen led the way for the Tigers with 92 passing yards and two touchdowns while Raini led in rushing with 85 yards and a score. Jordan Mernaugh added 53 yards on the ground while Pochardt, Hughes and Curry all recorded at least 31 yards rushing and a touchdown. Greve led in receiving with 70 yards and a score.

Nolan Drill threw for 136 yards for New Ulm while Howk had 43 yards rushing and a score to lead the way for the Eagles.

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