Independent file photo Marshall’s AJ Toulouse (19) looks to block a New Ulm opponent during their game on Sept. 27, 2019. Marshall will face Waseca today.

MARSHALL — Last week, the Marshall football team faced its toughest test of the season so far, edging Fairmont 30-27 to move to 3-0. Marshall recorded 377 yards of total offense, including 209 passing yards while holding the Cardinals to 209 yards of total offense, including just 66 rushing yards.

Brevin Runia led the offense by completing 16 of his 25 pass attempts for 209 yards and a touchdown while adding 55 yards on the ground and two scores. DeMario Gaines led in rushing with 78 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns while Bryce Lance led in receiving with 72 yards on four catches and a touchdown.

Defensively, Bryant Paulsen led with eight total tackles while Jack Bly added six tackles and Grant Louwagie and Lance each had four total tackles.

Marshall coach Terry Bahlmann said they made a lot of mistakes against Fairmont and they need to clean it up quickly, but was pleased that their defense was able to make stops when they needed to.

“We made a ton of mistakes; we had 13 things we counted that we usually don’t do, from the four turnovers to the three long kickoff returns. We need guys to step up and be focused, obviously we didn’t get as much practice time, but this time of the year we should have it cleaned up by now,” Bahlmann said. “We had a lot of mental errors and we’re going to have some new people in those spots. I thought our defense did a great job last week, they really came through when they needed to.”

This week, Marshall faces another challenging opponent, taking on Waseca today at 7 p.m. The Bluejays are fresh off a 41-6 victory over Worthington last week and will be led by Ryan Dufault, Kyreese Willingham and Marcus Hansen.

“Waseca’s had Dufault, who’s a three-year starter at quarterback and does a great job, along with Willingham their receiver and Marcus at guard is one of the best players in the league. He’s going to Army to play football and he’s that kind of dominant player, so those guys have all started for three years,” Bahlmann said. “They’re an experienced team and this is the group they’ve been waiting for, so I’m sure they’re coming here full of confidence.”

Offensively, Bahlmann said they just need to continue to clean some things up and have been working on adjusting their lineup with Deylin Hasert out with an injury.

“We’re just cleaning up our stuff. Start with limiting turnovers and reading the defense and then work from there,” Bahlmann said “Of course, we’ve got Deylin out, so we need other people to step up. That mentally was probably a surprise to us last week, but now we’ve had a week to work on it without him there, and it’s other guys’ opportunities and when you get that opportunity you need to play well.”

Waseca also comes into the game averaging roughly 38 points per game. Defensively, Bahlmann said they’ll need to be disciplined in their rush lanes and shut down Dufault.

“We need to contain Dufault,” Bahlmann said. “He runs the ball most of the time for them and he’s very quick and elusive and he can come out of the pocket at any time, so we need to be disciplined on our rush lanes and make sure that we tackle well.”