BARABOO -- The scene was replayed time and again following Marshfield's 30-3 victory over Middleton in a WIAA Division 1 state semifinal football game Friday night.

First, it was Casey Cramer, Middleton's only two-way starter at tight end and linebacker, who needed a moment to gather his thoughts.

Then it was Cardinals' linebacker Kenny Marra's turn to take a deep breath to hold back the tears.

Finally, Cardinals' coach Kurt Gundlach, who had just shared a private moment with wide receiver Ryan Oliversen, asked for a moment to compose himself.

After winning 12 straight games and surprising nearly everybody but themselves, the Cardinals' dreams of playing for a state title had just been dashed by the top-ranked team in the state.

"If we had people like that up front, we'd expect to win a state championship, too,'' Gundlach said in reference to the dominating play of Marshfield's offensive line.

"But I wouldn't trade our kids for anything, not for everything they've given us this year as a coaching staff. It's been amazing.''

Middleton, though, simply couldn't match up with the Tigers, who will be making their second trip to the Division 1 state finals in three years.

Marshfield (13-0), which defeated Oak Creek to win the 1997 title, will meet Mequon Homestead (13-0), a 21-0 winner over Beloit Memorial Friday, for the Division 1 state championship Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. at Camp Randall Stadium.

"You look at these guys without their shirts on, you never would have believed they would have gotten here,'' Gundlach said of the Cardinals. "We're not a physically imposing team. But they play with a lot of heart.''

But that wasn't enough to hold off the Tigers, who scored on their first two possessions of the game and never looked back.

Tailback Aaron Scheuer, who rushed for 101 yards, capped Marshfield's 9-play, 73-yard opening drive with a 1-yard TD plunge with 8 minutes, 49 seconds left in the first quarter.

Middleton (12-1) then drove to the Marshfield 46 where the Tigers held on fourth-and-1. Quarterback Jason Petri ended Marshfield's ensuing 5-play, 53-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run of his own to stake the Tigers to a 13-0 lead.

"Our offensive line took charge right from the start,'' Marshfield coach Len Luedtke said. "When you can block up front like those guys did, it took (Middleton) out of the game right away.''

Middleton committed four turnovers and could only muster a 32-yard field goal from Brandon Hellenbrand in its 11 possessions.

Although Marshfield sacked Cardinals' quarterback Jeremy Ziegler only twice, they put enough pressure on him to pick off two passes in the second half and disrupt any hopes Middleton had of rallying from a 20-0 halftime deficit.

"We didn't really feel like the game was going to end like this,'' Gundlach said. "We felt we could do some things.''

But for everything Middleton attempted, the Tigers seemed to have an answer ready.

"They were very sharp in their execution,'' Marra said. "They knew what they had to do and they came out and did it.''

The Cardinals trimmed their deficit to 23-3 on Hellenbrand's field goal that capped a 75-yard drive with nine seconds left in the third quarter.

But Marshfield's Matt Gorman returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown to crush Middleton's hopes of a comeback.

"We felt at that point, their will to play had pretty much gone away,'' Luedtke said.

But although the scoreboard appeared to show that Marshfield was the dominant team, it couldn't crush the Cardinals' spirit.

"I'm going to remember everybody sticking together and no matter what happened, we were there for each other and believed in each other,'' Cramer said. "That's how I'll remember this season. We didn't give up on ourselves.''