Rather than be content with being locked in as the No. 2 playoff seed for the Midwestern League, the Marshfield Pirates played Friday like their regular-season finale with North Eugene meant all the world.

The Pirates overwhelmed the visiting Highlanders early and cruised to a 49-7 win over North Eugene to improve to 8-2 overall and 4-1 in the Midwestern League.

“We did a lot of really good things tonight,” said Marshfield coach Kent Wigle while assessing a team effort that was almost entirely positive. “We're right where we want to be.”

Marshfield now plays the waiting game before meeting Wilsonville on Nov. 17 in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs. The Wildcats were runners-up in the Northwest League and have home field by virtue of the way the bracket was set up by the Oregon School Activities Association.

Friday's score might have been worse, but the Midwestern League's running clock rule went into effect with 3:20 to go in the third quarter when Marshfield's Brogan Oswald picked up a North Eugene fumble and ran untouched 16 yards for a touchdown to put the Pirates up 49-0.

From that point on, Marshfield was content to let younger players have their time on the field. The damage had already been done and the win essentially secured in the first half.

“Lots of people said we could take it easy,” said Marshfield's Riley Stacey. “We wanted to come out and show teams what we're really made of.

“The first half, nothing better could have happened.”

The Pirates dominated both sides of the football from the start.

Marshfield took the opening kickoff and promptly marched 66 yards in 14 plays. Andrew Simpson finished the drive with a 5-yard scoring run, taking a handoff over the right side.

The Pirates stopped North Eugene cold on its first possession and quickly found the end zone again. This time Simpson took a sweep around the right sideline on a third-and-10 play from North Eugene's 32-yard line and got crushing downfield blocks by both Stacey and John Parrish to help spring him for the touchdown.

“We've been working on downfield blocking,” Stacey said, adding that coaches have told the receivers, “If he pops through, then you block is the most important.”

Just 36 seconds after Simpson scored, the Pirates were on the scoreboard again.

Shane Rose jarred the ball loose from Highlander quarterback Derek Duman and Cody Borgogno recovered at North Eugene's 17. Rayce Stacey found Parrish wide open over the middle for the touchdown on the very next play.

It was 21-0 and the first quarter wasn't over. The Pirates had exactly the start Wigle wanted, taking no chance of letting North Eugene hang around or have any momentum.

“We overwhelmed them early,” he said.

Marshfield was particularly effective in the running game. Rayce Stacey completed 4 of 9 passes, but with the line dominating up front, his arm wasn't needed.

After a North Eugene punt, the Pirates started on their 20, but got a 36-yard run by fullback Jesse Fox and a 21-yard run by Simpson, aided by a downfield block from Fox. The fullback later scored on an 8-yard blast up the middle.

The next scoring drive was even more impressive.

After Riley Stacey intercepted a pass inside Marshfield's 1-yard line, the Pirates needed just three plays to score - runs of 56 yards by Fox and 34 and 9 yards by Simpson.

“The line was doing an outstanding job blocking,” said Fox, who had his first 100-yard game on just three carries. “They gave me wide open holes to cut up.”

Simpson had 154 yards on 11 carries, also the product of the line.

“We were just pumped up in the huddles,” Riley Stacey said. “The linemen were talking about how they wanted to hit guys. We haven't seen that before.”

It appeared the Pirates would lead 35-0 at halftime, but on the final play of the half, Stacey intercepted an overthrown pass at Marshfield's 40, sprinted down the sideline and then cut all the way across the field and into the end zone.

Marshfield's defense continued to dominate in the second half until the Highlanders scored on a long touchdown pass against the second string.

Losing the shutout didn't deflate the team's excitement.

“The defense did great tonight,” said Borgogno.

The Pirates hoped to contain Winterstein. They limited him to 55 yards in the first half and 74 for the game.

Duman finished with 81 yards passing, but they included 28 on the touchdown and 37 more on two shovel passes. The starting defense held him to 2-for-11 passing for 8 yards and Stacey's two interceptions.

Borgogno said the effort by the offense and defense was a big plus heading into the two weeks of preparation for Wilsonville.

“It's really important,” he said. “I think we have a lot of confidence.”

“We've improved a great deal the last two weeks on both sides of the football,” said Wigle.

The two weeks of playoff preparation are important for this season and next.

“It's going to allow us to get younger guys mixed in on special teams to get more athletic,” Wigle said. “We'll get the JV and freshman kids up to varsity speed. It's a chance to grow.”