The Marshall football team will host Willmar today at 6 p.m. in the Section 2AAAA semifinals.

The Tigers have been a juggernaut thus far. They are a perfect 8-0 and have defeated six of their eight opponents by 10 or more points, making their first-round bye well-earned.

Despite the Tigers having the home-field advantage and a better record than 6-3 Willmar on paper, Marshall head coach Terry Bahlmann said his team isn’t taking anything for granted.

“We won’t be too confident. They play in a tough league, they play some of the best teams in the state… they beat Rocori, who was ranked No. 1 at the time,” Bahlmann said.

One of the Cardinals’ advantages Bahlmann cited is their size. Namely, their quarterback and tailback, who are both over 200 pounds.

Running back Ramero Trevino is a powerful back. He’s run for 986 yards and 15 touchdowns while averaging 5.6 yards per attempt. He also plays a role in the passing game, as he’s caught 20 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown.

Yet, the Cardinals’ run game doesn’t end with their running back. Cullen Gregory threw for over 1,000 yards this season, but perhaps more impressive is his 653 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns.

Between the size of Trevino and Gregory, Bahlmann said Marshall’s defense will have to work hard to prevent Willmar from fighting for extra yards after contact if the Tigers want to win.

The Tigers run a similar offensive style to the Cardinals. Willmar ran the ball for 294 yards in their 28-12 win over Faribault in the first round

“Cullen and Ramero have really been our catalysts on offense,” Willmar head coach Jon Konold said.

Marshall is no stranger to ground-and-pound football. The Tiger offensive attack starts with Chidi Nwakama. In the Tigers’ last game against Belle Plaine, Nwakama ran for 136 yards and a touchdown on four carries, including an 85-yard touchdown in the first quarter. On the season, Nwakama has run for 516 yards on 66 carries and seven touchdowns.

The Willmar defensive line, led by Jacob Flannigan, will have a tough task ahead to slow down Nwakama. Flannigan is a versatile defender in that he is able to be effective regardless of where he’s lined up on the defensive line. He has racked up a pair of sacks and 30 total tackles on the season.

Behind Flannigan, linebackers Mattix Swanson and Jaxxon Sjoberg anchor the Willmar defense.

“Mattix gets a lot of nororiety with all the tackles he makes, while Jaxxon is the heart and soul. He makes the calls, gets everyone lined up, he’s having a spectacular year,” Konold said.

Swanson leads the team with 100 total tackles on the season, while Sjoberg has a team-high three sacks.

Since both teams play a similar game with run-driven offenses and disciplined defenses, mistakes are likely to be rare, but particularly costly when they come up. The Cardinals have come away with one or more interceptions in four of their six wins, but Marshall’s emphasis on the run game makes these picks harder to come by.

Still, Marshall has no plan to abandon the air attack out of an abundance of caution.

“We just need to make sure we make our reads, check down if we need to, and not be too excited for the big plays,” Bahlmann said.

Rest could also play a big role in the outcome of the game. Marshall has had plenty of the time to rest with their first-round bye, with their last game being their regular season finale against Belle Plaine on October 19th. Willmar, on the other hand, played their last game Tuesday.

“It’s always a challenge to have that short of a turnaround, but preparation-wise, we get probably the same amount of prep,” Konold said, “It’s really important to have a bye, there’s an advantage to that, but those are things we have to overcome. We can’t make excuses.”

Bahlmann also said that having time to rest, recover, and correct errors is important, but the time off isn’t all positive.

“On the other side, they built some momentum. We hope we come out sharp,” Bahlmann said.

The winner of Saturday’s game will face the winner of 1-seed Hutchinson and 4-seed Jordan Friday at 7 p.m.