Dubuque Wahlert runs past Marion, 34-14

MARION - You can scheme all you want. You can fire your boys up until they have fire in their eyes and smoke coming out of their ears.

But sometimes prep football can be a simple sport.

If you can run the ball, you've got a pretty good chance to win. If you can't stop it defensively, you don't.

That's exactly why Dubuque Wahlert was able to beat Marion, 34-14, Friday night at Thomas Park. The Golden Eagles ran and ran and ran, and the Indians couldn't stop them from doing so.

'We're kind of a ground-and-pound team, and that's kind of the culture Coach (Travis) Zajac wants to set with our program,” said Wahlert running back Kolton Bartow. 'We're going to try and do that every game, not just against Marion.”

Bartow had 215 yards rushing and three touchdowns as Wahlert (2-2) improved to 2-0 in Class 3A, District 4. He scored twice in the first quarter as the Golden Eagles built a 21-0 lead.

Wahlert finished with 318 yards on the ground, and that included a minus-20 on an airmailed shotgun snap over the quarterback's head on one play. As Bartow said, it was ground and pound all night long.

'That's a good football team,” Marion Coach Tim Lovell said. 'They came out and played really hard. Give them credit. They had a pretty simple gameplan, in my opinion. They were really a force up front, and we didn't do a good job of dealing with it. They ran the ball down our throats.”

Zajac was asked how much video he watched of Marion's second game of the season against Benton Community. The Bobcats won that one by being able to run the football.

'That was the secret sauce,” he said. 'Benton is a very physical football team, and we kind of pride ourselves on being the same way. The non-district slate we played with Western Dubuque and Dubuque Senior, that's two pretty quality 4A teams on this side of the state, and they play pretty physical football. So, yeah, Benton was the model to go after. Play physical up front and try and get hands on their receivers.”

Marion (2-2, 1-1) got a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Trevor Paulsen, but that wasn't nearly enough on this night. Paulsen threw for 178 yards but was intercepted twice and betrayed by his receiving corps, which flat-out dropped a handful of passes.

'We've got to learn to overcome adversity and not do in-fighting and get ready to respond with next man in,” Lovell said. 'It's a process. Give them credit, Coach Zajac does a really good job with them. It just sucks losing like that, getting punched in the face like that.”

'It was the most complete game that we've played to this point, and that was a huge point of emphasis in practice this week,” said Zajac, whose team plays another district biggie next week against Davenport Assumption.

Marion tries to regroup against Maquoketa.

Before Marion could even catch a quick breath, it was down two scores.

Wahlert fielded the opening kickoff and drove 76 yards on nine plays, Bartow finishing off the beauty of a march with a 20-yard TD run off a stretch run left. It was a ground-oriented drive, though quarterback Bryce Osterberger did complete a pair of big passes, including converting a 3rd-and-4 at the Marion 31 with an 11-yard throw over the middle to tight end Matthew Bandy.

Marion went three-and-out on its first offensive possession. After a 1-yard run, Bartow broke loose over the middle, eventually meandering to the sideline and breaking two one-on-one tackle attempts for a 62-yard TD run.

The extra point made it 14-0 just seven minutes in.

Marion penetrated Wahlert territory on its ensuing possession, but three straight incomplete passes from quarterback Paulsen turned the ball over to the Golden Eagles on their 46.

A very nice catch at the sideline by Dan McDermott converted a 3rd-and-6 and gave Wahlert a first down at the Marion 15. Two plays later, Kelan Dickson ran a stretch play right nine yards for another Golden Eagles and a 21-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Wahlert drove to the Marion 25 early in the second quarter, but Marion safety Connor Whalen intercepted an Osterberger pass. Buoyed by that much-needed defensive stop, the Indians offense put together a key drive to make it 21-7.

Paulsen scrambled for 13 yards, with 15 more added for a late hit on him. He eventually hit a fade pattern down the sideline to Blair Brooks for a 25-yard touchdown.

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