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PREP FOOTBALL: Marshall hits the road for matchup with Belle Plaine

Independent file photo Marshall’s Trey Steinbach runs with the ball after intercepting a pass during their game against Albert Lea last Friday. The Tigers will hit the road to face Belle Plaine today.

MARSHALL – After opening their season with a convincing 42-17 victory over Albert Lea last week, the Marshall football team hits the road for the first time as they head to Belle Plaine.

The Tigers were led last week by junior running back Gabe Raini, who rushed for 127 yards and three first-half touchdowns. Bryce Paulsen threw for 22 yards on 4 of 9 passing while Konnor Aufenthie added 105 yards and a touchdown pass at quarterback.

Bahlmann said their main focus on the offensive end this week has been cleaning things up and finishing their runs.

“I think just cleaning some things up and just finishing our runs,” Bahlmann said. “I thought our offensive line had a good game and we expect them to be our leaders, so we’re hoping for that again this week.”

Defensively, the Tigers were able to limit Albert Lea on offense and even had a pair of interceptions, but allowed a few big yardage plays. Bahlmann said that’s one area their defense is looking to clean up this week.

“Defensively, we gave up about 180 yards worth in three plays and we need to clean that up, otherwise we played solid defense,” Bahlmann said. “To clean that up, we need to pursue to the ball better and just execute and make plays when we’ve got the chance.

Belle Plaine comes in looking to bounce back from a 15-0 loss to Tri-City United last week. Bahlmann said they’re looking to continue that trend as well as get a different result from a loss to Belle Plaine from a few years ago.

“They struggled last week on offense and we want to continue the same. Our defense did a lot of nice things last week and we want to build on that,” Bahlmann said. “Belle Plaine is still the last place we went to in our district and got beat; that’s still a memory from three years ago, and our seniors still remember that. We need to make sure we’re ready to play.”

Kickoff is slated for tonight at 7 p.m. Bahlmann said he’s looking forward to seeing how his team improves from the opener as they head into Week 2.

“Just seeing how much improvement we’ve made from Week 1,” Bahlmann said. “Last week, we had 18 guys start their first game and I think we’re going to be a lot better this week.”

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