Photo by Jake McNeill Marshall running back Milo Swenson (17) takes a handoff outside the tackles during a prep football game against the Willmar Cardinals on Friday at Mattke Field in Marshall. The Tigers defeated the Cardinals 41-7 to improve to 3-0 on the season.

MARSHALL — The No. 2 Marshall football team gave returning Tigers a win to remember in its homecoming game on Friday night, drubbing the Willmar Cardinals by a final score of 41-7.

Defense has been a strong suit for the Tigers under Terry Bahlmann and that’s been no different this season. Marshall had shut out each of its first two opponents on the season, and shut out Willmar through the first half on Friday. The Cardinals didn’t score until the final 30 seconds of the third quarter, when the Tigers already led 27-0.

“I think our scheme is good, our defensive coordinator and defensive staff have done a great job, and our kids play hard,” Marshall head coach Terry Bahlmann said. “You play hard, and people feed off each other and make plays. Right now, we’re playing hard and playing fast on defense.”

Levi Maeyaert wasted no time getting into a throwing rhythm for Marshall. On the first play from scrimmage, Maeyaert rolled to his right out of play-action and hit Noah Frazee on a corner route for a 43-yard gain to the Willmar 20-yard line, with about 30 of those yards coming after the catch.

Willmar stuffed Marshall on its first two runs after the big gain, but Andrew Stelter found the off-tackle gap on third-and-6 and took it 16 yards to the house to give the Tigers the lead just 90 seconds into the game.

Marshall had seven different players with three or more rush attempts in the game, led by Stelter’s nine carries for 55 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Still, it was Sam Meier who led the Tigers in rushing yards with three carries for 96 yards and a touchdown.

Carter Manthei iced the game with a red zone pick over the middle in the final five minutes. Meier found the end zone on the next play, taking a pitch far to the right side for an 86-yard touchdown and a 41-7 lead.

“I’m just trying to find the hole… trying to go as fast as possible and turn the burners on,” Meier said after scoring his first varsity touchdown. “It was crazy, I didn’t know what direction was north. Too many bodies around me, but it was awesome.”

Cannon Craigmile deflected Willmar quarterback Jordan Ellingson’s first pass attempt at the line of scrimmage, though it was still caught for a 5-yard gain, and Maeyaert knocked away a third-and-3 attempt.

Manthei got the start in the secondary for Marshall after Jayden Meister, a preseason All-State selection, was ruled out with a knee injury. Despite missing a key defensive back, the secondary still made things hard for Ellingson.

“Carter Manthei really stepped up in his first start with Jayden being out, and then with the guys up front, we’re able to do a lot of stuff on the back side of our defense,” Maeyaert said. “Especially with how well they can move around, and then [defensive coordinator Brad Bahlmann] does a really good job on the defensive side.”

Marshall declined a holding penalty on the latter play, and Willmar attempted to convert on fourth-and-3, but JR Vierstraete and Braedyn VanMeveren combined to tackle Briar Schuett — in at quarterback for Ellingson — behind the line of scrimmage to take over on downs at the Willmar 33-yard line.

“We want to give them different looks and we were fast on defense,” Bahlmann said of the team’s defensive success in the trenches. “We’re not very big, we want to be able to flush the quarterback. And [Ellingson’s] a three-year starter, we need to do some different things.”

Bahlmann added that, as a run-pass option team, Willmar had to move around in the backfield. Vierstraete helped lead the Tigers’ aggressive pass rush in putting the Cardinals in bad positions.

The Cardinal defense stood tall early, forcing Marshall into a fourth-and-6 situation, but Aiden Bly took a slant route for a 17-yard gain to the 12-yard line. Two plays later, Logan Eickhoff ran down the seam and caught the back-shoulder fade for a 14-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.

Maeyaert finished the game completing 10 of his 14 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown after entering the game as the homecoming king, also carrying the ball five times for 15 yards. He connected with seven different receivers on his passes, led by Frazee’s two catches for 58 yards and another pair of receptions from Bly and Ethan Weedman.

“First of all, confidence in all the guys in the field that are with me, and then we’ve been preparing for them all week, we knew what we were going to get,” Maeyaert said. “That was part of our game plan and we executed it really well.”

Marshall had been effective in its ability to run the ball between the tackles a week prior in its 28-0 win over Rocori, so Bahlmann said the Tigers wanted to try to throw the ball early and open up the run since Willmar would have been able to see that tape.

“We hit the edge with some run plays, and then of course Levi’s a two-year starter, so we’ve got a lot of confidence in him to make some plays,” Bahlmann said. “We’re going to run the football, and we’ve got to keep that defense stretched out a little bit.”

Ellingson scrambled out of the pocket before hitting Hudson Sjoberg along the sideline for a 32-yard gain to get into Marshall territory for the first time in the game at the end of the first quarter. Yet, the Tigers held strong from their own 35 and forced a punt to get the ball back.

Big plays defined Marshall’s first-quarter offense, but it started the second with a slow, methodical drive. Stelter initially crossed the plane with a 9-yard run up the middle, but it was called back due to holding. Still, Ethan Boeck caught a pass on the next play before being spun down at the 1-yard line, and Tyson Louwagie punched in the touchdown to give the Tigers a 21-0 lead at the half.

A low snap allowed Brody Riess and Bly to tackle the punter for a loss on fourth down halfway through the third quarter, setting the Tigers up at the Willmar 28. Stelter eventually capped off the drive with a touchdown run up the middle on fourth-and-short from inside the 5, making the score 27-0 after the extra point sailed wide left.

Isaac Cayler set Willmar up with field position at the Marshall 27 when he broke a series of tackles for a 63-yard return before being taken down by Vierstraete.

Sjoberg kept the drive going when he caught the pitch on the speed option for a 12-yard gain to the 15, went on to punch in a 1-yard touchdown to score the first points allowed by Marshall all season. Marshall had held its opponents scoreless for the first 131 minutes of the season prior to the touchdown with 28 seconds left in the third quarter.

Bahlmann said he was disappointed in Marshall giving up the kickoff return because it put the defense in a hole and limited their chances of pitching another shutout.

Early in the fourth quarter, Maeyaert connected with Weedman for a 19-yard gain on the in route to the 39. Stelter bounced out to the left sideline for an 18-yard run to the 12, and Tyler Kraft ran it up the middle for a 34-7 Marshall lead with eight minutes to play.

Marshall improves to 3-0 on the season with the win and hosts Hutchinson (1-2) for its next game on Friday at 7 p.m. The Marshall and Hutchinson Tigers have met in the section championship game each of the last three seasons, with Hutchinson claiming the first two matchups before Marshall broke through as section champions last year after claiming home-field advantage for the game. Hutchinson lost 15-14 on Friday to a Rocori team that Marshall beat by 28 points.

“Hutch is Hutch. Nobody takes Hutch for granted,” Bahlmann said of his team’s upcoming opponent. “We’ve had great games with them over the past, and we’ll enjoy this one over the weekend and we’ll start getting ready for Hutch on Monday morning. It’ll be a lot of fun there, they’re coming to our place again.”