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Sun Prairie's 'Marshall Plan' outlasts Parker

SUN PRAIRIE — Unfortunately for Janesville Parker High School, the Marshall Plan ruled at Sun Prairie.

After serving a three-game disciplinary suspension, Sean Marshall got the ball early and often Friday night. The senior gained 231 yards on 35 carries, including two touchdowns as Sun Prairie jumped out to a 21-0 lead and held on for a 28-21 Big Eight Conference football victory.

After losing two of its three games without Marshall, Sun Prairie improve to 3-2 in the conference and overall, while Parker has suffered back-to-back losses and also is 3-2.

“We create a lot of uphill roads for ourselves,” Parker coach Joe Dye said after seeing his squad fall behind by at least two touchdowns for the third straight week.

“But we battle every week,” Dye added. “I know my team is going to battle.”

After controlling the first half with 11 first downs to one for Parker and out-gaining the Vikings 177-46, Sun Prairie struck again on its first drive of the third quarter.

Wide receiver Ross Harmon caught a backward pass from Tyler Patterson, and then lofted a 25-yard touchdown pass to Eric Wilberding for the 21-0 lead.

After Adam Vesterfelt’s 58-yard touchdown run cut Parker’s deficit to 21-7, Marshall broke loose again for a 23-yard run before capping off the ensuing drive with a 2-yard touchdown to push Sun Prairie’s lead to 28-7.

“We told our guys to just tackle the football, but Marshall had a lot of yards tonight,” Dye said. “He made some plays.”

Parker made some big plays, but those came too late.

After failing to sustain any drives on the ground, Parker found a seam through the air. Tyler Teubert opened the fourth quarter by hitting Cody Taber across the middle for a 59-yard touchdown that cut the lead to 28-14 with 9:38 remaining.

After forcing a three-and-out, Parker got the ball back, and Joe Allen won a jump-ball pass from Teubert for a 41-yard gain. Calvin Nauer added another 41-yard catch-and-run to the Sun Prairie 1-yard line. From there, Vesterfelt crashed in to cut the lead to 28-21 with 5:11 remaining.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, their defense allowed a first down before forcing a punt with 1:55 left. Parker drove to its 45, before a penalty and an interception ended the comeback with 45 second left.

“They almost gave me a heart attack,” Sun Prairie coach Brian Kaminski said. “This was a must-win for us.”

SUN PRAIRIE 28, PARKER 21

Parker 0 0 7 14—21

Sun Prairie 7 7 14 0—28

Scoring summary: SP—Eric Wilberding, 29 pass from Tyler Patterson (Jordan Noble kick). SP—Sean Marshall, 2 run (Noble kick). SP—Wilberding, 25 pass from Ross Harmon (Noble kick). JP—Adam Vesterfelt, 58 run (Charles Palan kick). SP—Marshall, 2 run (Noble kick). JP—Cody Taber, 59 pass from Tyler Teubert (Palan kick). JP—Vesterfelt, 1 run (Palan kick).

Statistics: First downs—JP 7, SP 18. Rushing—JP 23-95, SP 44-225. Yards passing—JP 201, SP 163. Passes—JP 18-10-1, SP 19-11-0. Fumbles—JP 0-0, SP 0-0. Penalties—JP 4-20, SP 7-60.