MFL MarMac outscored Clayton Ridge 29-0 in the second half of a Sept. 4 non-district football match-up in Monona, eventually winning 42-20 to improve to 1-1 on the season.

The loss avenged a 47-14 rout at the hands of the Eagles last year—a game in which the Bulldogs suffered some season-ending injuries.

“It always feels good to win,” said MFL MarMac head coach Dan Anderson after Friday’s game. “It’s extra special when it’s Clayton Ridge, after what happened last year.”

The Eagles had the Bulldog defense off-balance early, with a big touchdown reception the opening drive of the game. But MFL MarMac quickly countered with a Tyce Wikner TD—the first of his four that night. Paired with an extra point by Ashton Phillips, it put the Bulldogs up 7-6.

Clayton Ridge took back the lead, 12-7, the following drive, on another massive catch.

After a Phillips 27-yard field goal went wide right at the end of the first quarter, MFL MarMac didn’t get on the board again until several minutes into the second quarter, when senior Kashton Decker reached the end zone on a 46-yard reception. That gave the Bulldogs a 13-12 edge.

The Eagles clawed back the lead again, however, and already up 20-13, looked to capitalize on a Bulldog fumble before halftime. MFL MarMac senior Blake Schutte neutralized the threat with an interception at the goal line that left the score unchanged heading into the locker room.

Anderson was proud of how the team handled the back-and-forth first half.

“We had some adversity there early in the first half, giving up some big plays, but just stayed calm,” he said. “Then the kids really came ready to play football in the second half.”

Anderson credited a big hit by junior Noah Troester on the Bulldog sidelines for firing the team up.

“He hit so hard his helmet flew off,” Anderson recalled. “After that, things just changed.

We just kept clicking on offense, and the defense really settled down and didn’t give up any more points.”

Wikner scored three times in the second half, and Schutte put the game away with a touchdown with less than two minutes remaining. Kaden Strong handled the two-point conversion, landing him in the Iowa high school football record books as the first eighth grader to score at the varsity level.

“He was ready for the challenge,” Anderson said. “And that’s kind of a cool thing to say.”

The coach was especially proud of Wikner, however, who suffered a scary season-ending injury versus the Eagles a year ago. The sophomore finished the night with 209 yards and four touchdowns on 14 carries.

“He came back strong and had a great game tonight,” Anderson said. “He was charged up all week. Once he started getting healed up and knew that he was going to be able to walk and play football again, he was probably waiting for this game.”

MFL MarMac had 437 rushing yards as a team. Along with Wikner, Decker picked up 109 yards on 10 carries and sophomore Daxton Diemel reached 64 yards on 15 attempts. Schutte carried the ball seven times for 56 yards and a touchdown.

Bulldog sophomore quarterback Easton Lange completed two of six passes for 65 yards, including the touchdown to Decker. He threw one interception.

While Clayton Ridge connected on some major passing plays, the running game that amassed over 340 yards against North Cedar week one was held to just 46 by MFL MarMac.

“I told [the team] at halftime, if we don’t give them those big plays, they’re going to have a hard time marching down the field scoring because we were more physical than them up front, I thought. The only way they felt like they were going to score in the second half is if one of our DBs fell down or completely blew coverage, because they weren’t able to knock us back. They weren’t able to run the ball very well,” Anderson said. “We shut down the running game big time.”

Junior Tristan Hoopes led the Bulldog defensive effort with 6 total tackles, including 2 for a loss and half a sack. Senior Cameron Hagensick notched 4.5 tackles, and Decker, Diemel and sophomore Mason Hollar each had 4. Wikner and Troester picked up 3.5 tackles apiece, with Troester also recording a sack.

Schutte and junior Taco Thompson each snagged an interception.

MFL MarMac will wrap up non-district play this Friday, Sept. 11, versus New Hampton (1-1). The game will begin at 7 p.m. in Monona.