Marshfield coach Kent Wigle got a shimmering look at both the present and future of his quarterback situation on Thursday night.

He watched his signal callers, senior Rayce Stacey and junior Brogan Oswald, combine for 243 passing yards and five touchdowns in a 56-29 trouncing of Willamette.

“They both got it done tonight,” Wigle said afterward. “Rayce especially in the first half.”

Stacey and Oswald led Marshfield's offense up and down the field all game long against a Willamette defense that could not keep up with the Pirates' team speed.

“You just couldn't contain all of them,” Willamette coach Dan Fritz said afterward. “We did some good things, but obviously not enough. Marshfield is a great football team.”

Stacey, Marshfield's senior starter, set the tone on the Pirates' first possession of the game. After connecting with his brother, Riley, for 23 yards, Rayce dialed his tailback Andrew Simpsons' number. The 5-foot-10 speedster took a hand-off from Rayce and reeled off an impressive 47-yard touchdown run. Simpson followed his line to the left of the Wolverine defense, then cut across midfield, leaving a trail of defensive backs in his wake.

Simpson finished with seven carries for 111 yards. He added a 46-yard touchdown run on Marshfield's third drive of the first half.

“We worked really hard this week on offense. We had to after last week,” Simpson said, referring to Marshfield's 32-29 loss in its league-opener at Churchill. “It's nice to get back to winning league games. We got a lot of momentum right now.”

After Simpson's second score, Rayce put the Pirates (5-2 overall, 1-1 Midwestern League) up by two touchdowns with a 42-yard strike to Alexz Elletson. It was one of three touchdown passes on the night for Rayce. He also found his tight end John Parrish for two short passes inside the Wolverines' 10-yard line. The second came by way of a well-placed fade over two defenders.

Stacey went 9-for-14 for 187 yards and one interception. He was lifted in dramatic fashion for Oswald midway through the third quarter.

Oswald's first pass was made on a play in which he lined up as a wide receiver. He got the ball on a reverse toss then turned up field, planted his feet and launched a 57-yard pass that landed in Elletson's arms. The trick play tantalized the partisan crowd at Pete Susick Stadium and set up a 12-yard touchdown scramble by Oswald five plays later.

Oswald said the coaches drew up the reverse-pass in the locker room at halftime.

“Coach told me when I went in there ‘just run it,'” Oswald said. “He said Alexz would be wide open, and surely enough, Alexz was wide open.”

Oswald competed 2 of 3 passes for 56 yards but did more damage with his legs. His 12-yard scoring run was followed by a 62-yard TDsprint in the third quarter. It looked liked a busted play at first glance, but Oswald shed light on it after the game.

“I was suppose to follow a trap to the right,” Oswald said. “I just found daylight and went for it. We definitely got back on track tonight on both sides of the ball.”

Oswald finished with 90 yards rushing. He also made his presence felt on defense at strong safety. Oswald recorded four tackles and sacked Willamette QB Travis Woodke in the second quarter.

The Marshfield defense picked off Woodke two times. Interceptions were made by defensive backs Riley Stacey and Zach Meline. Woodke was constantly pressured in the pocket, but managed to complete 14 of 27 passes for 223 yards and three touchdowns: one on the ground and two through the air. His rushing score was followed with a 40-yard field goal by David Pottorf, which brought the score to 28-10 at the half. Woodke's touchdown passes both went to senior wideout Austin Barnett.

Tailback Craig Loper also scored for Willamette (3-3, 1-1). He plowed in for a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter and ended with a game-high 119 yards on 19 carries.

Marshfield's Shane Rose had a quiet game rushing, but added to the Pirates' scoring spree in the third quarter with a bruising 85-yard kickoff return for six. It helped validate what Wigle described as a ‘total victory,' and a much-needed lift for the program, which last week lost a close acquaintance in former player Josh Messerle, cousin of Marshfield linebacker Will Messerle.

“This is a tremendous lift after what we went through last week,” Wigle said. “That's probably the worst experience I've had in coaching and in the community in the last 35 years. ... To have that, and to then have to compete with an empty feeling - it was so frustrating for us.

“It's nice to get back on track. I'm sure when playoff seedings come out, that loss is going to hurt us, but we just need to get to the playoffs and take it from there. We gotta improve and become more physical.”