By John RittenhouseThe Marshall Tigers all but ended any chances of Luverne winning a Southwest Conference football championship Friday in Marshall.The home-standing Tigers entered the game with an 0-5 record, but they didn’t play like a winless team while toppling the Cardinals 23-9 in what had to be considered an upset.With the loss, Luverne slipped to 2-2 in SWC play with two games remaining. With Jackson County Central being unbeaten in the league, either one win by the Huskies or one loss by the Cards will officially eliminate LHS from title contention.The loss was a disappointing one for Cardinal coach Todd Oye, who has seen the Tigers get the better of LHS in three of the last four seasons."Marshall came out and played well," he said. "They knew they were getting to the end of their conference season, and they wanted to get a win. They played well, and we didn’t do anything to win the game."The game started off in a promising way as Luverne took a 3-0 lead with an 11-play, 34-yard drive that ended with Adam Kurtz booting a 25-yard field goal at the 6:17 mark of the first quarter.The drive was highlighted by a successful fourth-down conversion, and a 14-yard pass from Andy Stegemann to Ben Cornish.Marshall met the challenge by mounting an eight-play touchdown march with its first offensive possession.Tiger Scott Mathiowetz capped the drive with a six-yard run with 3:02 left in the opening quarter. Matt Koster ran in the two-point conversion to make it an 8-3 game.Neither team could produce points in the final 15:02 of the first half.Luverne made a bid to trim the difference to two points at the intermission, but a 25-yard attempt for a field goal was off the mark late in the second quarter.The Tigers put the game away with two impressive drives to start the third quarter.Marshall received the opening kick and marched 55 yards in five plays with Cory Krogen scoring on a two-yard run at the 9:54 mark of the third quarter. Another successful two-point conversion gave the Tigers a 16-3 lead.Marshall’s second possession of the third quarter turned into a six-play drive that ended with Koster tossing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Chace Pollock. A successful extra point made the difference 23-3 with 5:44 left in the third quarter.The Tigers hurt the Cardinals by passing the ball during both of their scoring drives in the third quarter.Koster completed two passes for 36 yards in the first drive, and two for 62 yards during the second drive."They use a formation designed to spread a defense out, and they throw a lot of wide receiver screens out of it. We didn’t do a very good job of stopping it," Oye said.Luverne ended a dismal night on a positive note by putting together a 14-play, 88-yard drive to cap the scoring in the fourth quarter.Tyler Elbers, who had a 14-yard run during the march, capped the drive with a one-yard plunge at the 7:00 mark of the fourth quarter. The Cardinals missed the ensuing extra-point attempt.Sophomore quarterback Nick Heronimus provided some spark for the Cardinals during their final scoring-drive. Heronimus completed a 22-yard pass to Cornish and ran three times for 20 yards during the advance.Luverne did get control of the ball two more times in the final seven minutes of the game, but the Cards were unable to produce a first down.The 3-3 Cardinals, who are undefeated at home in 2003, will host Redwood Valley tomorrow.RWV will bring 4-2 overall and 2-2 SWC records into the game, including a 21-12 win over Worthington Friday."They like to throw the ball," Oye said of the Cardinals. "The key for us will be stopping their passing game."Team statisticsLuverne: 118 rushing yards, 112 passing yards, 230 total yards, three penalties, 11 first downs, two turnovers.Marshall: 110 rushing yards, 187 passing yards, 297 total yards, four penalties, 12 first downs, one turnover.Individual statisticsRushing: Brad Herman 1-8, Mark Remme 8-26, Elbers 19-68, Stegemann 2-minus 10, Nate Siebenahler 1-6, Jared Pick 1-0, Heronimus 3-20.Passing: Stegemann 5-9 for 84 yards, Heronimus 2-9 for 28 yards, Kurtz 0-1 for zero yards.Receiving: Cornish 5-77, Pick 1-28, Herman 1-7.Defense: Tim Boen one sack, Tony Willers one sack.
