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SECTION 2AAAA FOOTBALL: No. 2 Marshall prepares for showdown against No. 1 Hutchinson

Independent file photo Marshall’s Yahya Black brings down Jordan quarterback Noah Milhouse during their Section 2AAAA semifinal game last Saturday. Marshall will face No. 1 Hutchinson today in the championship game.

MARSHALL — The Marshall and Hutchinson football teams have had some extremely tight battles in their recent matchups. Both times came in the section championship game, where Marshall won both rounds by just three points (31-28 in 2015 and 17-14 in 2016).

Tonight, Marshall and Hutchinson square off for a third round with another trip to the state tournament on the line. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Hutchinson High School.

Marshall enters the contest with a perfect 9-0 record and is coming off a 31-20 victory over Jordan in the Section 2AAAA semifinals last Saturday. MHS was led last week by Konnor Aufenthie, who threw for 222 yards and two touchdowns while adding 35 yards on the ground and another score. Brayden Hilgemann led in rushing with 71 yards on six carries and a score while Bryce Lance led in receiving with 97 yards and a touchdown.

Marshall coach Terry Bahlmann said they knew it was going to be a different type of game against Jordan from their earlier encounter the week before, but added his team showed a lot of good things down the stretch and they’re looking forward to the challenge against Hutchinson.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game; they’re a seven-win team and the first game we got five interceptions on them and were able to put it away, but anytime you’ve got speed like that, it’s going to give other teams problems and they hit us for a couple of touchdowns. If you take away the kick return, we played pretty good defense most of the night; we were behind and we came right back, so that showed a lot from our kids and I think that’s good for us down the road,” Bahlmann said. “Hutchinson is going to be a different kind of game, we respect Hutch’s program; over the years they’ve been one of the quality programs year in and year out and we look forward to the opportunity to play the No. 1 rated team in the state.”

On the offensive end, Bahlmann said they’re just polishing things up and they need to improve on coming off the ball this week.

“We’re just polishing up, by now we’ve got everything in and we’re working on their schemes. They’re an even-front team and we haven’t played one for a while, so we need to get back to that with our blocking,” Bahlman said. “Otherwise, Hutchinson runs through the ball well and we need to make sure we’re body on body; we didn’t come off the ball well last week, so we need to be better this week.”

Meanwhile on the other side of the field, Hutchinson enters the game with an 9-0 record and is coming off a 60-14 rout of Mankato East. Hutchinson is led by dual-threat quarterback Russell Corrigan as well as running back Tyler Schiller and has averaged more than 300 yards per game on the ground.

Bahlmann said they’re going to load the box and run the ball, so they know it’s going to be a battle in the trenches and every yard is going to matter so they need to match Hutchinson’s physicality from a defensive standpoint.

“They’re going to play physical football and won’t change much. They’ll put 11 offensive guys within the tackles and they’ll just try and run the football,” Bahlmann said. “They’ve got a 235-pound quarterback that’s going to Boise State so he’s going to run the football; it’s going to be a physical game, every yard is going to matter and we’ve got to battle and scrape for every yard out there.”

Marshall is looking for its first trip to state since the 2017 season and fourth in the past five years while Hutchinson will look for its first trip since 2014. With another chance at making a state tournament appearance in their sights, Bahlmann said they’re looking forward to the competition and the atmosphere that comes with prep football.

“Just the competition and the atmosphere and the fun,” Bahlmann said. “We expect a huge crowd and we need the Marshall crowd to come out and it’s a great atmosphere for high school football and the winner goes to the state tournament.”

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