By RANDY GONZALES

rgonzales@dailynews.net

RUSSELL -- The Thomas More Prep-Marian football team has had trouble stopping the run this season, with opponents getting big play after big play.

Thursday night's season finale was no exception.

Russell had a pair of backs get more than 100 yards on the ground in a 38-15 win over TMP-Marian in Class 3A, District 14 action. Beloit (7-2 overall, 3-0 district) won the district title with a 36-0 win over Phillipsburg (5-4, 2-1).

After winning their season opener, the Monarchs lost their last eight games of the season.

"Sure hate to see the seniors go out like that," Flax said.

On a cold and wet night on a muddy field, Russell (4-5, 1-2) relied on its wishbone attack to move the ball. Junior halfback Ryan Zachman rushed for 195 yards on 26 carries and scored three touchdowns and senior fullback Brady Stoppel added 102 yards on 18 carries and one TD.

"It's been the story all year," Flax said. "We've had trouble stopping the power running game."

But it was TMP-Marian (1-8, 0-3) that got on the scoreboard first. Scoring just their second touchdown in the first quarter all season, the Monarchs needed 10 plays to go 69 yards for a score on their first possession. Sophomore quarterback Nick Hammeke hit senior wideout Jacob VonLintel for a 10-yard TD pass with 7:29 left in the first quarter. The big play in the drive was the first, a 24-yard connection from Hammeke to VonLintel.

The Monarchs' 7-0 lead didn't last long. After Russell recovered an onside kick, the Broncos marched 52 yards in 10 plays -- all runs -- capped by Zachman's TD run from 3 yards out. Senior backup quarterback Tyson Schmidtberger ran in the 2-point conversion to give Russell an 8-7 lead with 2:58 left in the first.

Zachman scored from 41 yards out on the first play of the second quarter to give Russell a 14-7 lead, then the Broncos scored again just before halftime. On fourth-and-3 from the Monarch 17, Stoppel made a tackle-breaking run into the end zone with 13.7 seconds left for a 22-7 lead after Zachman ran in the 2-point conversion.

Schmidtberger scored from a yard out and sophomore Nash Karst scored on the 2-point conversion to give Russell a 30-7 lead after three quarters.

Hammeke hooked up with VonLintel again in the fourth quarter for another score, this time from 5 yards out, to make it 30-15 after junior Nathan Zimmerman's 2-point conversion.

"Good to see he goes out with a couple touchdown catches," Flax said of VonLintel.

Russell scored again with 6:08 left for the final margin, on a 50-yard run by Zachman. Junior tight end Brady Ruggles caught the 2-point pass from Schmidtberger.

Russell attempted a 45-yard field goal by senior Nick Turner with 2:05 left in the game. It fell well short.

Hammeke finished 13-of-22 passing for 122 yards, with two TDs and no interceptions. VonLintel had seven catches for 81 yards and the two scores. Senior fullback Andrew Allen added 48 yards rushing on 14 carries in his final game.

"Disappointing; not the type of season we envisioned for them," Flax said of his seniors.

Flax said the team has some good players returning; he just needs more of them.

"We've got a good nucleus coming back next year," Flax said. "Got to get bigger, faster, stronger.

"We've got to get the numbers out," he added.