Bulldogs dominate opener

  MONONA – The victory bell never sounded so sweet for MFL MarMac's senior football players. Having been outscored 108-18 by South Winneshiek during their first three years in high school, the Bulldogs turned the tables on the Warriors in a season-opening 44-28 victory in Monona.

  “This team has gotten us for 11 years,” Bulldog coach Dan Anderson said after the game.

  The Bulldogs trailed only after the game's first possession Friday night and led its final 29 minutes, most by more than a touchdown. They did it with an impressive rushing attack that churned out 418 yards and a total offensive attack that totalled 517 yards. They did it by winning the turnover battle. They did it by dominating the time of possession. By game's end it was a South Winneshiek team, which returned its quarterback, top rusher and four of its top six receivers, that was holding its heads down and a Bulldog team that had graduated its top two rushers and top three receivers that was celebrating.

  The Bulldogs never punted in the game and converted four-of-five fourth down conversion attempts.

  “We broke their will after awhile,” Anderson said.

  It all started on the offensive line for the Bulldogs. A senior-laden group led by returnees Zach Howe, Jackson Landt, Gavin Hertrampf and Spencer Larson dominated the line of scrimmage, paving the way for senior tailback Kutter Anderson to rush for a career-high 225 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore fullback Gabe McGeough added 84 yards and a score while newcomer JT Stocker ran for 43 yards and wingbacks Cullen McShane and Ethan Stubbs combined for 66 yards and a score.

  “The offensive line, they fired off the football, they were smart, the backs ran hard …,” Coach Anderson said. “We were getting the edge on them and they were getting frustrated and then when they started playing out a little more we ran the power inside.

  “People say, ‘Man, if you lost your quarterback you’d be in trouble’ or ‘if you lost your running back you’d be in trouble,’ if we lost our guards we’d be in trouble because our guards played like men tonight. Eli Johnson and Zach Howe were playing awesome. Everybody did – everybody played well. They played the new style of Bulldog football is what they played.”

  The rushing dominance took the spotlight off senior quarterback Cedrick Drahn who became MFL MarMac's career passing leader while throwing for 102 yards and completing seven of 11 attempts. He has 1,966 yards during a career that has included 14 starts. Drahn set MFL MarMac’s single-season passing record with 1,366 yards last year.

  “With our offense, we’ve got an answer for everything,” he said. “If we execute we do. There’s not anything they can do to us that we’re in trouble – there’s always something we can do.”

  South Winneshiek’s offense churned out 378 yards, including 257 through the air, though it turned the ball over three times, including twice while deep in MFL MarMac territory. Warrior quarterback Jacob Herold completed 24-of-38 pass attempts for 257 yards and a touchdown.

  “They were going to score points, they have a heck of an offense and they run it well … I just felt like if we can keep pounding the ball I don’t know if they can stop us,” Coach Anderson said.

  South Winn scored first, capping a 12-play drive with a Herold two-yard keeper on fourth down. The Bulldogs answered quickly, driving 68 yards on 10 plays, with Anderson going the final yard for the touchdown, tying the score at 6.

  “I think some of our teams in the past, if they score first on us they started putting their heads down,” D. Anderson said. “After that first drive I knew that all night long, as long as our defense help up.”

  The game-turning play came less than a minute later after the Warriors had driven to the Bulldog 27. As Herold lofted a deep pass toward the end zone, Stubbs adjusted to the under-thrown pass and stepped in front of the intended receiver for an interception, keeping the score tied.

  The Bulldogs took a lead they would hold the rest of the night after forcing the game’s only punt early in the second quarter. On a drive aided by a pair of critical South Winneshiek penalties, they drove 81 yards with Stubbs sweeping around the right end for his first career touchdown with 5 minutes, 35 seconds left in the half.

  MFL MarMac’s defense made another big play – this one a stop on South Winn’s fourth-down conversion attempt in its own territory – and the offense wasted little time to strike as Drahn went deep down the left sideline to find junior Max Havlicek open after having beaten his defender. The touchdown made it an 18-6 game with less than four minutes left in the half.

  South Winneshiek answered the score with less than 90 seconds left in the half and made its conversion attempt to make it a four-point game, though the Bulldogs were not done. Anderson changed his coach’s mind about running out the clock when he raced 43 yards around end to move the ball inside South Winn’s 30. Four plays later the Bulldogs faced second-and-goal from the four with 13 seconds left and Anderson hit the right side again, this time for a touchdown that pushed the Bulldog lead back to double digits.

  “That was one of those game changers right there because they had just scored to close the gap,” Coach Anderson said.

  The ‘Dogs scored on the opening drive of the second half to extend their lead to 18 points, 32-14, and held a comfortable margin the rest of the night. 

  The Bulldogs take to the road Friday night to take on Postville. Next week they visit a Jesup team that upset defending state champion Hudson in its season opener.

SW           6   8   0  14—28

MFL MM      6    18    8    12  —   44

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

    SW - Noah Tieskoetter 2 run (Pass failed); 6-0

    MFL MM - Kutter Anderson 1 run (Pass failed); 6-6

Second Quarter

    MFL MM - Ethan Stubbs 8 run (Kick failed); 12-6

    MFL MM - Max Havlicek 40 pass from Cedrick Drahn (Pass failed); 18-6

    SW - Tieskoetter 7 run (Cael Kuboushek run); 14-18

    MFL MM - Anderson 4 run (Run failed); 24-14

Third quarter

    MFL MM - Anderson 25 run (Anderson run); 32-14

Fourth quarter

    MFL MM - JT Stocker 18 run (Run failed); 38-14

    SW - Jacob Herold 1 run (Run failed); 20-38

    MFL MM - Gabe McGeough 2 run (Run failed); 44-20

    SW - Tieskoetter 26 pass from Herold (Carter Wenthold pass from Herold); 28-44

Team Totals                SW            MFL MM

First Downs                  22                   27

Rushes-yards            24-121          61-418

Pass Yards                    257                 102

Comp.-Att.-Int         24-38-2          7-12-0

Total Offense                378                 517

Punts-Avg.                1-43.0               0-0

Fumbles-lost                 1-1                  2-0

Penalties-yards         10-88             12-87

Individuals

    Rushing –South Winneshiek: Jaron Todd 8-46; Noah Tieskeotter 3-27, 1 TD; Zach Taylor 2-21; Cael Kuboushek 3-15; Cayden Kleppe 1-2; Jacob Herold 7-10, 2 TDs. MFL MarMac: Kutter Anderson 25-225, 3 TDs; Gabe McGeough 18-84, 1 TD; J.T. Stocker 6-43, 1 TD; Cullen McShane 7-43; Ethan Stubbs 5-23, 1 TD; Team 2-(minus 2).

    Passing –South Winneshiek: Herold 24-of-38 for 257 yards, 1 TD, 2 int. MFL MarMac: Cedrick Drahn 7-of-11 for 103 yards, 1 TD.

    Receiving –South Winneshiek: Kuboushek 10-79; Carter Wenthold 5-68; Tieskoetter 4-55, 1 TD; Collin Wiltgen 3-31; Taylor 2-18; Todd 1-6. MFL MarMac: Max Havlicek 1-40, 1 TD; Stocker 2-24; Anderson 2-17; McGeough 2-21.

    Tackle leaders –MFL MarMac: Stubbs 8; Havlicek 7.5; McShane 7.0; Stocker 7.0; Cayden Ball 5.5; Drahn 5.5; Zach Howe 4.5 (2 quarterback sacks).

    Interceptions —MFL MarMac: Ball 1, Stubbs 1.

    Fumble recovery —MFL MarMac: Jacob Trudo.