Banged up Bulldogs fall to Crestwood

By Audrey Posten | Times-Register

An injury-riddled MFL MarMac struggled to keep pace with Crestwood in a 34-6 loss in the Aug. 29 football season opener in Monona.

The Bulldogs were already without senior cornerbacks Koda Warrington and Anthony Bunting when fullback and linebacker Blake Schutte went down early in the game. Multiple players suffered from leg cramps throughout the night, contributing to a list of athletes forced to play out of position or spend more time on the field than usual.

“Don’t take anything away from Cresco—what a good team they had and a ton of improvements they’ve made in their passing game from one year to the next—but we were really banged up,” said MFL MarMac head coach Dan Anderson. “We had a lot of guys playing out of position. They fought hard for a half until we got just too many guys banged up and then cramping up, which happens when guys are not getting any breaks.” 

The Cadets scored their first touchdown late in the first quarter, capitalizing on an MFL MarMac fumble the opening drive. They reached the end zone on the next drive as well, after a fake punt extended play. 

The Bulldogs got on the board near the end of the first half, when quarterback Eli Hanson broke away for a 36-yard touchdown run on fourth down and two. A two-point conversion was unsuccessful, leaving the team down 14-6 at halftime.

Crestwood couldn’t be contained in the second half, scoring two touchdowns in the third quarter and one in the fourth to win 34-6. 

Cadet quarterback Alex Loden compiled 159 passing yards, while the running game put up 224, led by 122 yards from Finnegan Donlan. 

Senior Kyler Nuehring led the MFL MarMac defense with 7 tackles. Auston Lind and Tyce Wikner followed with 4.5 each, while Aidan Meyer had 4, including a tackle for a loss. Hanson also finished the game with 4 tackles and Braxton Halvorson 3.5.

MFL MarMac’s offense recorded no passing yards, but accumulated 162 on the ground. Hanson topped the stat sheet with 71 yards on a team-high 12 carries, then Wikner had 29 yards on eight touches. Filling in at fullback, Lind picked up 24 yards on three carries.

“I thought Wikner ran really hard. He never came off the field. And Eli played really well out there. Ran extremely hard,” said Anderson. “Trust me, they were all giving a good effort. Everybody played tonight.”

“We had sophomores out there and even freshmen playing a varsity game, where normally we don’t have that happening, but it’s just what happens sometimes,” Anderson continued. “It’s just the way it is when you have smaller school football and have a few guys banged up on a smaller squad this year. We’re not too deep at any positions.”

Anderson stressed no one is hitting the panic button. There is a lot of season yet to play. 

The coach hopes some healing and continued experience will help the team moving forward.

This week, the Bulldogs travel to Clayton Ridge on Friday, Sept. 5. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. There will be no JV game ahead of the varsity, leaving more available players to rotate.

“There might be some more freshmen that might have to get pulled up and they might just have to grow up a little faster than we want to,” Anderson said.

The neighboring teams haven’t faced off since 2022, when MFL MarMac beat Clayton Ridge for the fourth straight time. However, the Eagles own the series 6-5 since 2008.

“They’re motivated. They believe they’ll beat us this year, and, you know, they’ve got some good athletes. They’ve got some big receivers. They’ve got a really experienced quarterback,” Anderson acknowledged. “But you’re going to have a team, in Clayton Ridge, that’s more of our size with about the same number of kids on the sidelines. If we can stay healthy, I think we can always compete.”