Photo by Derek Hisken: Marshall running back Andrew Stelter (1) and offensive guard Kael Frana celebrate a touchdown during the Tigers' Class AAAA quarterfinal win over Totino-Grace in Blaine on Thursday.

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BLAINE — A series of big runs from Andrew Stelter and the Tigers’ typical stout defense gave the Marshall football team its second consecutive Class AAAA quarterfinal win on Thursday. Stelter broke off a pair of long touchdowns in the first half and Marshall’s defense never let fourth-seeded Totino-Grace’s offense get in gear as the Tigers picked up a 21-3 win to return to US Bank Stadium for the state semifinals next week.

Marshall started its opening drive at its own 9-yard line but didn’t take long to get things going. After getting a pair of first downs, Andrew Stelter found the gap to break off a 67-yard run. He was marked down at the 1-yard line after being tackled into the end zone, but he spun through a tackle two plays later to give Marshall a 7-0 lead four minutes into the game.

In the waning minutes of the first half, Marshall received a punt deep in its own territory but worked its way down the field with a series of runs. After the Tigers pounded their way into Totino-Grace territory, Stelter broke off another 30-yard run to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead.

Turnovers came early and often after the Tigers’ first scoring drive. Marshall forced a 3-and-out on the Eagles’ ensuing possession but muffed the punt to give Totino-Grace the ball at the 32. Marshall forced a turnover on downs to escape the drive unscathed.

Maeyaert threw an interception before picking one off as a defensive back going the other way, returning it from the 10 to midfield. Still, the Tigers turned the ball over on downs before Totino-Grace punted once again.

With two minutes remaining in the half, Totino-Grace converted a series of first downs to get into Marshall territory. Among those first downs was an outside run on third down, with a late hit penalty against the Tigers advancing the ball to the Marshall 22. The Eagles weren’t able to move much further from there, but Luke Brandt hit a 35-yard field goal with two seconds remaining to cut Marshall’s lead to 14-3 at the midway point.

Totino-Grace received the second-half kickoff with the opportunity to make it a one-possession game. The Eagles completed a pass over the middle on third-and-5 of their first set of downs, but it was called back for a holding penalty and Aidan Bly recovered a strip sack on the second attempt to set Marshall up at the 15-yard line.

Two plays after the turnover, Stelter caught a swing pass from the 11-yard line. He tiptoed his way along the sideline to get into the end zone and complete the hat trick, giving Marshall a 21-3 lead three minutes after halftime.

The Tigers converted a fourth-and-1 from their own 36 later in the third quarter, and Maeyaert showed off the legs from there. He broke off a 13-yard run to get to midfield and followed up with another 11-yard run.

The Eagles were called for unnecessary roughness on the latter of the two runs, bringing Marshall to the 24, but Totino-Grace locked down from there and stopped Marshall on its second fourth-down conversion attempt of the drive to take over at the 16.

Marshall pushed Totino-Grace back to a third-and-16 from the 11, but the Eagles converted a deep ball to move the chains. A hard hit on the play resulted the receiver exiting due to injury, but he held onto the ball to keep the Eagles’ hopes alive.

They didn’t stay alive for long. JR Vierstraete recovered a loose ball a few short plays later and got moving downfield, returning it past midfield to give Marshall possession at the 46 with eight minutes left.

Ben Bergen returned an interception for a touchdown for Totino-Grace in the final minute, cutting Marshall’s lead down to 21-9 after the Eagles missed the 2-point conversion attempt.

Marshall improves to 11-0 with the win and will compete in the state semifinals at US Bank Stadium on Nov. 13 at 10:30 a.m. The Tigers will take on Orono, the No. 3 seed from the South, after the Spartans defeated Fergus Falls 36-14 in Thursday’s quarterfinal. Marshall defeated Orono 13-12 when the two teams met in Marshall on Oct. 3. Both teams were ranked in the top 5 in the state when they last met.