Trending
ALGONA -- Top-ranked Bishop Garrigan had to work hard to keep their perfect record intact on Friday night.
The Golden Bears (7-0 overall, 4-0 8-Player, District 2) were locked in a district fight with No. 7 GTRA (6-1, 4-1), before Ethan Marso sealed the deal with a late pick-six from 30 yards out to wrap up a 52-38 home victory.
"We wanted to be pushed and we didn't know how tight it would be," said Garrigan head coach Marty Wadle. "We have to execute as a team. We have to play tough and physical and we need to beat quality opponents like this two weeks away from the playoffs.
"Now we will evaluate the film and see how well we truly played in a great test."
Marso was on a mission for the Golden Bears, who extended their win streak to 18.
The Titans jumped on the Golden Bears early, gaining a 16-6 lead and 24-20 at the half.
"I thought the kids battled through some things," Wadle said. "We did some good things in the second quarter. We didn't adjust as well as we needed to at times, but were focused better in the second half.
"The big plays that they made really hurt us."
It was a scorefest in the third quarter, with three lead changes. The Golden Bears would ultimately top GTRA 32-14 in the second half.
Marso and Tate Foertsch both went over 100 yards rushing. Marso had 152 on 15 carries and two touchdowns -- on runs of two and three yards -- and the interception score.
"We gave them a few different looks and our offensive line did a good job," Wadle said. "We did a great job defensively. Trayton ran the ball well, and Marso is not fun to tackle in the open field.
"He runs with an attitude. We did a great job and this was a great overall effort."
Foertsch had three touchdown passes, connecting with Wyatt Rosenmeyer (one yard), Owen Murphy (25 yards) and Michael Joyce (nine yards).
Trayton Cink had a three-yard touchdown run. Cink finished with 74 yards on the ground.
Marso led the Garrigan defense with 12 tackles, Andrew Lichter had eight and Carter Schwab had four and one sack.
"What a great job (on the interception)," Wadle said. "He hooked on a curl and ran it back 30 yards and swung it our way."