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Stephan leads Duluth Marshall in football playoff opener

Jeremy Stephan rushed for 124 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead Duluth Marshall to a 34-12 victory over Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin as the Section 7AAA high school football playoffs kicked off Tuesday at Marshall.

Levi Staine added 84 rushing yards and another score for the third-seeded Hilltoppers (7-2), who advance to play at Esko in Saturday’s semifinals.

Cullen Mudrak led Marshall’s defense with 19 tackles and a sack, which forced a fumble that Jake Serre returned 50 yards for a touchdown.

Greenway/NK 0-0-0-12—12

Duluth Marshall 12-8-0-14—34

DM — Jeremy Stephan 1 run (run failed)

DM — Jake Serre 50 fumble return (run failed)

DM — Charlie Kratz 2 run (Levi Staine run)

G — Mitch Bonderson 1 run (run failed)

DM — Stephan 49 run (Cullen Mudrak kick)

DM — Levi Staine 6 run (Mudrak kick)

G — Kole Kalisch 15 pass from Chris Meadows (pass failed)

 


Duluth Marshall seizes control of the gridiron, defeat Two Harbors 12-0

Football isn’t warfare, but the individual battles are still decided in the trenches.

That’s what second-year Duluth Marshall coach Jim Hogan, himself a former U.S. Army Ranger, preaches to his team.

“As a coaching staff, we set high expectations,” Hogan said. “We expect them to be competitive and fight for the win. I tell the kids, ‘This isn’t a rec league sport, it’s varsity athletics and you play to win.’ I think they bought into that and they realize that if we want to be competitive, they have to go to work.”

The Hilltoppers proved that Friday afternoon, beating Two Harbors at the point of attack in a grind-it-out 12-0 Great Polar White Division victory at Marshall.

Marshall (5-1 overall, 2-1 conference) rushed for 284 yards on 66 attempts and the defense pitched its first shutout since 2006. Junior running back Jeremy Stephan gained a team-high 110 yards on 20 carries and scored the first touchdown on a 32-yard run.

“You can’t do anything fancy, you have to do what you practice and what you hang your hat on,” Hogan said. “I tell the kids to be happy with 3-and-a-half yards, moving the chains and running the clock.”

The tone was set on the first possession of the game as the Hilltoppers kept the ball for 19 plays and ran 9 minutes, 12 seconds off the clock. While that drive ended with a failed fourth-down attempt, Marshall controlled time of possession throughout.

Stephen peeled off his scoring run on the second drive, taking the ball around left end and scampering down the sideline.

“I have to give it up to the front five on both sides of the ball — they clogged it up and made my job easy,” Stephan said. “I had great blocking on that run; I just had to make a move on the safety.”

While the offensive line was winning its skirmishes, defensive coordinator Perky Hansen’s defense did its job as well. The Agates (4-2, 1-2) were held to 73 yards rushing on 35 attempts (2.1 yards per carry) and completed only two passes for 6 yards.

“It’s a good feeling winning the battle one-on-one,” senior offensive lineman Jake Serre said. “Once you do that, it’s just up to your backs. You do your best and they do their best, and you expect a good outcome.”

The score remained 6-0 until Marshall concluded a 13-play, 72-yard drive with Levi Staine’s 5-yard, tackle-breaking run around left end with 6:42 left in the game. The Hilltoppers didn’t throw a pass until the final 90 seconds — and it was intercepted.

Two Harbors crossed midfield only once and fumbled the ball back the only other time it was on Marshall’s half of the field.

“We were soft, no doubt about it,” Agates coach Tom Nelson said. “Offensively, our kids did not block like we expected them to. I’m very disappointed about that but I’m proud of our defense.”

The Hilltoppers often were the team accused of being soft in past years. When Hogan was hired, the team was mired in a 17-game losing streak.

“Coach Hogan made it realistic for us. He wanted a 5-4 season last year, and we all thought we could do that,” Stephan said of Marshall’s 7-4 record in 2012. “The goal this year was to do better than last year.

“That guy will never quit, and having a role model like that really carries on to the football field.”

Hogan, a social studies teacher at Superior High School, tries to transfer the same mentality onto his players that he had instilled in the Army.

“I don’t tell them Army stories, but I tell them, ‘You physically have more in you than you think you do. It’s not your body that you have to challenge, it’s your mind,’” he said. “I learned that from my head football coach and at Ranger school and, hopefully, we’re transferring that on to the kids.”

Nelson, who has known Hogan for several years, isn’t surprised he turned around the program.

“I told him last year when he got the job, ‘Your numbers aren’t going to be high, but you have some athletes.’ He didn’t come in with the cupboard bare,” Nelson said. “What he has been able to do is get them to believe in a system and play disciplined and play hard-nosed. They took it to us today.”

Two Harbors 0-0-0-0—0

Duluth Marshall 0-6-0-6—12

DM — Jeremy Stephan 32 run (run failed)

DM — Levi Staine 5 run (run failed)


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Team Info

Jim Hogan

Head Coach

Section: 7AAA
Conference: Great Polar - White
Enrollment: 300
Nickname: Hilltoppers
Colors: Black, White, and Yellow
Assistant Coaches: Buzz Johnson, Perky Hansen, Mike Townsend
Home Field: Duluth Marshall Field
2012 Record: 7-4-0
State Tournament Appearances
State Championships
Team Website

Standings

Team leaders