Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall split end Josh Kraft throws a deep ball to tight end Jack Meier on a double-pass in the third quarter of a Class AAAA quarterfinal game on Thursday at East Ridge High School in Woodbury. The No. 3S Tigers defeated No. 2S Byron 21-0 for their first state tournament win since 2016.

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WOODBURY — The last time the Marshall football team was in the state tournament, most of the current members of the roster were less than 10 years old. Yet, under the bright lights of East Ridge High School at the Class AAA quarterfinals, the Tigers were ready for the moment. The South’s third-seeded Tigers wore down the No. 2 Bears over the course of the game to grind out a 21-0 victory and advance to the semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Marshall had an opportunity to break the game open late in the first quarter when Levi Maeyaert hucked a deep ball to Jack Meier from the 17-yard line. Meier brought in the grab, but Byron defensive back Beau Nicklay Peanut-punched the ball loose at the Byron 35-yard line to set up the Bears with possession at their own 22-yard line.

Meier didn’t let the fumble get him down. With the game still locked at a scoreless tie in the second quarter, the Tigers marched their way down the field until Byron’s defense stood tall to force a third-and-14 at the 39-yard line. Maeyaert kept the ball and rolled to his left on a play action to draw the defense over to the right side of the field before pivoting and throwing a screen to Meier. The defense bit on Maeyaert, leaving Meier green grass before he high-stepped his way through a late tackler and crossed the plane to give Marshall a 7-0 lead with five minutes to play before halftime.

Byron was moving the ball after the initial fumble until a Marshall stuff and a holding call against the Bears set up a third-and-long. On the first play of the second quarter, Gavin Schaefer burst through the line to get a strip-sack at the 28-yard line, but Byron picked Marshall off on the next offensive play to prevent the Tigers from capitalizing on the takeaway. Still, JR Vierstraete came up with a big third-down sack to force a Byron 3-and-out to set up Meier’s go-ahead touchdown.

Byron nearly forced a 3-and-out on Marshall’s first possession of the second half, but the Bears brought Andrew Stelter down by a facemask on third down to keep the chains moving. They nearly still stopped the Tigers but, facing a fourth-and-4 from the 38-yard line, Bahlmann made a gutsy call.

Maeyaert dropped back and threw a screen to Josh Kraft, the quarterback-turned-split end. Just as it seemed that the defense was going to converge on Kraft, he turned back the clock to his junior season and threw the ball downfield to Meier. The tight end’s big game continued as he took the ball all the way to the 3-yard line to set up Mason Eickhoff for a touchdown run up the middle to double Marshall’s lead to 14-0 with five minutes remaining in the third.

Meier finished the night with 127 receiving yards on three catches to bounce back from the early miscue, while Andrew Stelter added another pair of receptions for 20 yards in the game. Maeyaert went 4-of-7 with 109 yards, a touchdown and a pick.

The Bears tried to regain some momentum in the waning minutes of the first half. On fourth-and-1 from midfield with under two minutes to play before the break, Carson Heimer broke off a 43-yard run before Shep Jensen caught up to make the touchdown-saving tackle in the red zone.

Owen Wilts made a good play on the ball to break up a pass attempt to the end zone and the Tiger defense stood tall on second and third down to force a fourth-and-goal from the 3 with five seconds remaining in the half. The Bears looked for the red zone, but Meier burst through the line for a sack to end the half.

Following Eickhoff’s touchdown, Byron needed a score to give itself a fighting chance. They advanced the ball into the red zone but Meier read a double-reverse perfectly on third-and-5 and Kraft got the fourth-down sack to get Marshall the ball back at the 27-yard line.

Maeyaert broke off a 21-yard run to start the fourth quarter but Marshall eventually settled for a punt from midfield, pinning Byron deep in their own territory. Yet, the Tigers came up with another fourth-down stop to get the ball back in the red zone and Schaefer capped off the short drive with a dagger touchdown run, giving Marshall a 21-0 advantage with five minutes remaining.

From there, Marshall’s defense stood tall and the offense salted the clock away before eventually kneeling out the final two plays to punch their ticket to the Bank.

Marshall improves to 10-1 with the win and will take on the North’s top-seeded Becker Bulldogs in the state semifinals. Becker is 11-0 on the season now after defeating No. 4 Holy Angels in the quarterfinals at Brainerd High School on Thursday.