Pirates Pull Away Late for 19th. Consecutive Win in Series

If you wanted the worst possible start to a ballgame, you got it in spades if you were on the Bulldog side. Marshfield kicked off and the ball went into the end zone for a touchback to the 20. No time runs off the clock. NB runs one play, fumbles and Marshfield recovers. The clock stops for change of possession and then Marshfield hits a 15 yard TD pass that looked oh-so-easy with only 8 seconds in game time having elapsed. With 11:52 to go in the 1st quarter it's Marshfield leading NB 6-0 and a blowout is in the wind.

That's as far as it got for the Pirates until a bit more than 2 minutes remained in the 3rd quarter. NB blocked the XP to keep the score at 6-0 and that would start a run of turnovers, blocked kicks and penalties by both sides. NB's offense, although not scintillating other than for one pass play that went for 30 yards and set the Bulldogs up on the Pirate 2 yard line for their only TD of the game, was offset by multiple Marshfield errors and some pretty decent defense by the Bulldogs. The halftime score was a surprising 6-6 and what made it even more surprising was how sloppily Marshfield's level of play was.

The second half of the 128th. edition of the bay area rivalry started off with NB kicking off to Marshfield as the misty drizzle, driven by a north wind, poured into Bulldog stadium. Wet slick balls portend fumbles and on the Pirates' second play from scrimmage, they fumbled, NB recovered around the 35 yard line and suddenly we had a reversal of form from the start of the 2nd half. NB did not score a TD as Marshfield had but they did mount a drive that got them down to the 5 before the Pirate defense stuffed the Dogs. That set up a short FG and NB led 9-6.

Marshfield's next drive went nowhere and they had to punt. At this point of the game it appeared the NB running game, despite no returning experience in the backfield, was picking up momentum. NB marched the ball down the field from the 50 into the red zone, then it was their turn to fumble. Marshfield recovered and there went NB's chance to make it a two possession lead with a TD or to go up by 6 with a FG. As it turned out it was also NB's last real chance to score for the night.

Marshfield looked to be on the hook with a 3rd and 5 from deep in their territory when they hit a long pass down the sideline to get down to around the NB 30. The Bulldog defense, looking stout up to this point, had crumbled on one play and it would be on a reverse for a TD from the NB 19 yard line that the crumbling began to turn into an avalanche of Pirate points. The XP kick was no good to keep the score at 12-9 and within a FG but the close aspect of the game was soon to disappear as the 4th quarter began.

NB's offense went into turnover mode repeatedly and the Pirates, who in the 1st half turned their gifts from NB into only 6 points, cashed in every single time. A TD and successful XP made it 19-9 following a snap over the Bulldogs' punter's head set up Marshfield deep in NB territory. Another Bulldog fumble and another Marshfield TD made it 25-9 with the missed Marshfield XP being the only consolation. With 14 seconds to go in the game Marshfield's backups punched in another score to make the final score appear more lopsided tham the game was for the most part.

The Streak now stands at 19 games. For 3 quarters it appeared NB had as much going for them as Marshfield did as neither team looked sharp but both played hard. In the end it was the Bulldogs making the last fatal flurry of mistakes that did them in.

DB