The big-play speed of Grants Pass was just too much for the Marshfield football team Friday night, as the Cavemen blanked the Pirates 35-0 in Coos Bay.

Grants Pass, one of the top Class 6A teams in the state, ran a textbook rushing offense, running inside early in the game to open things toward the sideline later. The Cavemen had 192 yards on the ground on the night, most of it coming from breakaway touchdown runs of 50 and 55 yards.

“Our early runs in between the tackles set up everything on the outside,” said Grants Pass coach John Musser. “Our kids believe in the scheme ... We were able to attack what we perceived as a defensive weakness.”

Meanwhile, the Pirates’ plan was to throw short passes to move the ball against the all-around quickness of the Cavemen. But even after having watched game film of the Grants Pass team, Marshfield coach Kent Wigle was still taken aback by how fast the Caveman defense closed in on the ball.

“They have outstanding team speed,” said Wigle. “We got beat by a team that was more explosive and quicker than we are.”

Marshfield was able to move the ball some — quarterback Kyle Tedder was 11-15 for 119 yards — but the Pirates failed to make important first downs, and a pair of turnovers proved to be costly.

After the teams played a scoreless first quarter, Grants Pass opened the second quarter with a missed field goal. Marshfield took possession of the ball, gained a first down but started moving backward on penalties — the Pirates were flagged eight times for 50 yards overall in the game.

Then Tedder heaved the ball 30 yards down the right sideline and was picked off by Grants Pass cornerback Ryan Miller.

The Cavemen made Marshfield pay, putting together a 53-yard drive that culminated with a 6-yard touchdown scramble from quarterback Jordy Romick with 5 minutes, 51 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Then Grants Pass went on a tear.

On the first play from scrimmage of the Cavemen’s next possession, Bowen took a toss from Romick and broke it up the right sideline for 50 yards and pay dirt with 3:24 remaining in the half.

“It felt good to get one in like that,” said Bowen, who said his team came in to the game ready after a solid week of practice. “We practiced really hard, we went over (Marshfield’s) defense over and over. That gave us a good look.”

On the ensuing kickoff, Pirate Travis Bettin fumbled and Chris Thomas of Grants Pass recovered on the Marshfield 12-yard line. The Cavemen were pushed back by a penalty, but Grants Pass’ second-threat quarterback, Justin Hoy, found Miller in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown pass with 2:01 remaining and Grants Pass went into half-time up 21-0.

Marshfield opened the third quarter with a seven-play, 30-yard drive that ended when the Pirates couldn’t convert on a fourth-and-one at the Grants Pass 45 yard line.

On the first play after taking over possession, Caveman Cameron Vernov went inside the right tackle, eluded two defenders and was off to the races for a 55-yard touchdown run to put the count at 28-0.

Pirate defensive back Shane Daly, who had two sacks and an overall solid defensive performance, said after the game his team just couldn’t keep up with the Grants Pass squad.

“They’re a very quick team, and they executed,” said Daly. “We need to work on being more physical and attacking more.”

The Cavemen’s final touchdown came with 8:44 left in the game, when Hoy scrambled up the middle toward the line of scrimmage and again connected with Miller in the end zone, this time for a 9-yard touchdown pass.

Romick and Hoy made for a nice one-two punch. Romick was 7-for-8 passing for 61 yards. Hoy was 3-for-3 for 69 yards, and nearly had all of his passes go for touchdowns — an 80-yard touchdown pass to Brock Dean was called back on a penalty.

Bowen had 95 yards on 13 carries, only handling the ball a few times in the second half.

The Pirates only had 35 yards on the ground to go with Tedder’s 119 yards passing. Much of the latter came on a 51-yard hail Mary to Levi Meline at the halftime buzzer.

Tedder went out with a bruised hip in the fourth quarter when he landed on some concrete after being tackled out of bounds. He said after the game he was just going to ice it and hope for the best. Tedder said he thought the team was overmatched, but still could have done a better job of competing.

“We had a little gut check there and didn’t respond,” he said. “But that was a good football team. That’s probably the fastest team we’re going to see all year.”

Kyle Brown was the leading rusher for Marshfield with 11 carries for 30 yards, most of it gained by dragging two or three tacklers as the Pirate offensive line struggled to make holes.

“We had a hard time finding anything we could hang our hat on tonight,” said Wigle. “They were the givers and we were the receivers. We just have to learn and get better from that.”

Notes: Marshfield’s next opponent is Jefferson of the Portland Interscholastic League. The final preseason game next Friday also is the school’s annual homecoming contest. ... Two Midwestern League schools got off to an early start in league play Friday.Springfield beat North Eugene 34-14. Those two schools will have another nonleague game on Oct. 3, whenNorthEugene hosts Parkrose and Springfield visiting Sherwood.