Marshfield safeties Levi Meline and Shane Daly are a different kind of defensive football player.

While linemen start each snap with a go-for-broke push and linebackers surge through gaps looking for someone to hit, Meline and Daly begin most plays with a pause.

“I like that I get to sit there and watch for a little bit,” said Daly, who said his read of a play begins with the stance of uncovered linemen — high pads means a pass and low pads indicates run. “I like watching the whole field. I get to attack the run and I get to do pass. It’s not like linebackers where you’ve got to shoot up the middle and make a big hit all the time.”

This season the two senior captains have played a vital role for the Pirates defense, acting as what head coach Kent Wigle describes his “flat defenders,” meaning they cover the shallow sidelines as strong safeties or sometimes as something closer to a weakside linebacker.

“They kind of gave us an anchor point on both edges.” said Wigle, who’s seen a few defenses come and go in his 20-plus years at Marshfield. “That’s really important for us defensively.”

And last week the Midwestern Conference told Wigle something he already knew: He has a couple of the best safeties around.

Daly received first-team all-league honors after a season in which he tallied 40 unassisted tackles, 17 assisted tackles and three interceptions.

“It means a lot to me — I worked hard for it,” said Daly of the honor. “To be the best player at the position in the league is pretty cool.”

Meanwhile Meline, a returning starter from last year, earned a second-team selection with his season of 38 unassisted tackles, 21 assisted tackles and an interception. That last part came on a big play, when Meline picked off Willamette quarterback Jacob Hughes — in the flat, of course — and sprinted untouched 40 yards for a touchdown in the Pirates’ 47-12 drubbing of Willamette, a game that kept Marshfield in the playoff hunt.

“(Safety) is probably the position I feel the most comfortable with,” said Meline. “I’ve pretty much been playing it since I started playing football.”

 Lining up as either strong safety or weakside linebacker, Meline’s defensive game is one of precision and patience, a combination of instinct and X’s and O’s. He sets up 4 yards back and 4 yards to the outside of the tackle or tight end, and looks for receivers in the flat or slipping behind him or watches out for runners on a sweep or bounce out.

“I can see most of everything. I don’t really have a big drop read. We pretty much have the flat read, 10 yards in front to pass,” said Meline. “I always have to be conscious of cutbacks.”

It’s a scheme that’s beginning to pay dividends for the Pirates, who’ve suffered defensive letdowns, usually giving up a few big plays a game, but have shown steady improvement this year.

In five preseason games to open the season, Marshfield gave up 142 points and went 2-3. In the league games, the Pirates allowed just 113 points and earned a 3-2 record, a number inflated by a 47-29 loss at No. 2 Thurston. Marshfield only allowed 20-plus points one other time in Midwestern play, in an injury-riddled, league-opening 24-12 loss at Churchill.

“We’ve had our ups and downs, definitely,” said Daly. “Big plays have been scored on us on both of our corners, and on all of us. Big plays were made up the middle — it was like we were weak in the middle. It’s all starting to come together now.”

Wigle said he thought his two safeties had plenty to do with the team’s steadily-improving defense.

“They can disrupt things big time, and it’s good that they have good speed and they’re physically strong. They’re both really steady, two of seven elected captains. They’re looked up to and relied upon by the rest of our team,” said Wigle. “They make big plays coming off the edge.”

Daly and Meline play both ways, too: Daly starts at tight end and Meline lines up as a wide receiver.

“What I have to guard on defense is what I am on offense, so it helps a lot,” said Meline.

Now Meline and Daly will take their game to Jefferson tonight for the second round of the Class 5A playoffs. The Democrats torched the Pirates with more than 350 yards on the ground and two big touchdown passes in a 43-23 Marshfield loss in a late September preseason game.

If the Pirates can slow down Jefferson, Daly and Meline likely will have a lot to do with it.

“I feel like we’ll be strong,” said Meline. “We’ve just got to maintain our defensive line and we’ll do pretty good.”

Daly said win or lose tonight, he’s thrilled with the season and the way the team came together this year after a rough start.

“I’m happy with the season, no matter what happens,” he said.