By Kelly O’Day
The dominoes, they keep a-tumblin’.
The Bluejays keep rising to the latest challenge, wading through opponents like marking them off a checklist. First, it was the mental barrier of Merrill never winning a WIAA football playoff game.
Check; a 42-7 pasting of Tomah at home on Oct. 27.
Then it was Menomonie and its 18-year streak of reaching Level 3 of the playoffs, one year removed from Merrill’s season-ending playoff defeat to the Indians.
Check; a 13-6 triumph at home on Halloween.
Now, the MHS gridmen returned to the site of their only loss, a 24-0 blanking no less, at the state’s 5th-ranked Marshfield Tigers.
Check; a dominating 21-3 victory, with the Jays winning their 10th straight game in the process. Merrill is now 11-1 on the season, and one of just four teams left in D2 in the entire state.
And through the entire process, no one seems to trust in the Bluejays but their fans, coaches and most-importantly, themselves.
"Right now we just have a group of young men that feel they can accomplish anything they set their minds to," MHS coach Tom Tourtillott said. "They believe in themselves, number one, their coaches #2 and the team #3.
"If you go to the blogs, I don’t think anybody picked us to beat Marshfield. I don’t think anybody picked us to beat Menomonie, I don’t think they picked us to be conference champs. I don’t think they’re going to pick us to beat the two-time defending state champs this week.
"Maybe I’m naive, but we just have to continue to do what we do, continue to practice the way we practice and lift weights the way we do and good things will happen. We know what we’re capable of doing."
The stakes just keep raising, with Kimberly–the two-time defending state champion– on tap for Friday’s 7 p.m. game at D.C. Everest’s Stiehm Stadium. The winner will play in the state championship at Madison’s Camp Randall Stadium at 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 20.
"We’re going to have to wear Kimberly down," Tourtillott said. "That’s Northwoods football. We have to take it to them.
"We’re just excited to be in Level 4. We could play in a cow pasture and we’d be happy. We’re glad it’s closer to Merrill. The way the (Stiehm Stadium) Field Tech (surface) is, it’s just like being on grass. It’s not the carpet (artificial turf) used to be."
After a one-week hiatus of not letting a team score in the first half after 6 consecutive weeks of setting the streak, the Jays returned to form against Marshfield and went it one better when they didn’t let the Tigers on the board until the fourth quarter. Even then the home team had to settle for a 36-yard field goal on 4th-and-19 with 9:00 remaining in a 7-0 game, after picking up a first down on the Merrill 10.
"We knocked them back and got momentum back the other way," Tourtillott said. "That was big. Then Pascal (Paul) hit Sam (Arneson) and he runs away from people, and Pascal hits Sam again for the touchdown. The defense holds them to a 4-and-out, we score again and that’s the ball game. It’s all about a team playing the way they need to when they need it.
"We’ve got 50 guys who are committed to the team, not just Pascal Paul and Sam Arneson. It’s also guys like Jeff Saal, Robert McCarl, Tyler Richard; guys that help us out and make us a team. It’s the truth. We wanted to build a program where everybody is equally important.
"How many teams want themselves introduced (before each game) as ‘The team.’ These guys get it. It’s so refreshing as a coach. That’s why we don’t want to be done. If we’re blessed with another week of football, my goodness that’s great."
Arneson turned a third-down pass in flat into a 59-yard gain to the Tiger 16, and caught third-down pass for a 13-yard score to make it 14-3 with 6:37 remaining. After holding Marshfield to 7 yards in 4 plays, including three incompletions, The Jays got the ball back on the Tiger 45.
Paul’s option keeper picked up a first down at the 33, and on the next play tailback Ross Van Der Geest broke a tackle, spun out of another and sprinted to the two. Two plays later, Van pounded the ball across the end line for his second score of the day.
Van finished with a huge 187 yards on 27 carries. He also scored from one yard out to cap a 10-play, 75-yard game-opening drive, picking up 33 hard-fought yards.
"Marshfield is a very good football team, but in the first half (fullback) Jake Schlueter and the guys up front did a great job blocking," Tourtillott said. "We set things up with blast, blast, blast. Then we would come back with tackle trap and Ross hits the hole very hard.
"It was a good offensive game plan. Coach (John) Paul and Coach (Greg) Schofield did a great job of being patient. I believe we wore them down a little bit."
That abrasion comes from exemplary line play.
"We thought the football game would come down to who had better offensive and defensive lines," Tourtillott said. "Round one (Sept. 4) went to them, but I thought Round 2 definitely went to us. Our lines have done a very good job on both sides of the ball. We have smart players #1, and #2 they’ve been very dedicated and have worked extremely hard in the weight room and with their conditioning."
Merrill ended up with 4 sacks–two apiece for Tyler Oestreich and Matt Thistle– and 4 TFL’s –two apiece for Oestreich and Zach Ament. Oestreich also led the crew with 6 solo and 3 assisted tackles.
"They wanted to run away from Sam so they ran at Ace," Tourtillott said. "If everyone who was Foto News Athlete of the Week had that kind of performance, wouldn’t that be great for Lincoln County."
The defense allowed just 13 rushing yards on 21 carries, and Luke Accola completed 11-of-28 passes for 131 yards.
Ament (4 s, 2 a), Jordan Burton (4 s, 2 a), Arneson (4 s, 1 a), Jimmy Sladek (3 s, 2 a) and Thistle (3 s, 1 a) provided balanced defense.
Paul gained 37 yards on 16 carries, and he completed 5-of-13 passes for 105 yards with a TD and an interception.
Arneson made 2 catches for 72 yards, and Brad Anderson picked up 38 on 2, including a big catch on the opening drive.
Merrill’s Ross Van Der Geest dives across the goal line with game-icing score in Merrill’s huge 21-3 Level 3 playoff triumph at Marshfield.