Free, Marathon too much for Abbotsford in nonconference matchup

ABBOTSFORD - Either with his arm or his legs, Donavon Free found a way to hurt Abbotsford on Friday. 

The Marathon quarterback accounted for six touchdowns to lead Marathon to a 50-21 win over Abbotsford in a nonconference football game. He scored on runs of 50, 4, 41 and 14 yards sandwiched around touchdown passes to Nate Stoffel and Carter Hanke in the first and fourth quarters, respectively. Free went 10-of-15 for 156 yards with the two touchdown passes and an interception. 

Abbotsford coach Jake Knapmiller had seen enough by the end of the game. 

"(Free) is a game-changer and I don't think we were responsible defensively," Knapmiller said. "If you're maybe not in the right position or tying to make an arm tackle on him, he is going to make you pay. He did tonight."

Free rushed for 205 yards as the Raiders gained a measure of revenge for a WIAA Division 6, Level 2 playoff game loss to the Falcons last October. Marathon finished with 433 offense yards, nearly 200 more than Abbotsford totaled. 

Both teams are 2-1 this season. Joe Aguilera scored on runs of 4 and 67 yards for the Falcons. Abbotsford quarterback Ean Rau rushed for 73 yards on 13 carries to lead the Falcons, who totaled 246 yards on the ground. 

Marathon allowed Abbotsford to rush for 542 yards and six touchdowns in the playoff game last year, and Iola-Scandinavia rolled up 470 yards on the ground against the Raiders last week. Marathon came into the rematch with the Falcons as motivated group.I

"There was a lot riding on this game," Free said. "Obviously we had a tough game last week and then (Abbotsford) knocked us out of the playoffs last year, so we wanted to get a little bit of revenge there. Plus we wanted to play better than we did last week. It was kind of an eye-opener for us and we learned we have to play harder and play with more heart. That's what we did."

Free accounted for 195 offensive yards in the first half as he rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another score as the Raiders led 22-7 at the break.

His night started as he hit Nate Stoffel for a 27-yard touchdown pass on the Raiders second possession of the game.

Stoffel went over Abby's Franny Gamillo to make the leaping grab in the front of the end zone. It started a run of three scores between the teams in a span of 62 seconds. 

Adam Seefluth took the ensuing kickoff 78 yards to the Raiders 4 and Joe Aguilera scored on the next play.

Marathon's Richie Seubert took the kickoff to midfield, and Free broke through the middle on the first play and went down the sidelines for a 50-yard run.

"That was huge and it's good to see our kids not hang their heads and respond like that," Marathon coach Todd Stoffel said. "You give up a huge play like (the kickoff) and it can be a downer, but our guys responded and went out and did their jobs. I think that goes to having seniors that keep people up all the time."

Free, who rushed for 121 yards in the half, scored from the 4 on a fourth-down play roughly midway through the second quarter. Free set up the score with a 38-yard pass to Justin Lemke on the third play of the drive.

Abbotsford drove into Marathon's red zone late int he second quarter but the Falcons lossed two yards on a fourth-and-1 play inside the Raiders 10. 

Free then went 38 yards on a third-down play in his final carry of the first half. Then he went for a 41-yard touchown on his second attempt of the third quarter to give the Raiders a 30-7 lead. 

Abbotsford never got closer than 15 points the rest of the way. 

"I don't think its a secret that we are going to try and run right at you on fourth-and-1. I think most teams would," Knapmiller said. "They won the line of scrimmage there ... and it absolutely was a game-changer where you are maybe looking at it being a seven-point game at halftime. We talk about being consistent and that was one of the opportunities where consistency gets you that first down and into the end zone."

First quarter

M-Nate Stoffel 27 pass from Donvavon Free (kick fail), 1:44

A-Joe Aguilera 4 run (Aguilera kick), 1:08. 

M-Free 50 run (Stoffel pass from Free), 0:42. 

Second quarter

M-Free 4 run (Richie Seubert run), 7:21.

Third quarter

M-Free 41 run (Justin Lemke pass from Free), 9:55. 

A-Aguilera 67 run (Aguilera run), 9:00. 

M-Seubert 3 run (run fail), 6:04. 

A-E. Rau 3 run (Aguilera kick), 1:09.

Fourth quarter

M-Free 14 run (Stoffel pass from Free), 9:34. 

M-Carter Hanke 3 pass from Free (run fail)