MFL-Mar-Mac trips Cadet football team, 9-7

CRESCO - MFL-Mar-Mac’s Ben Krambeer nailed a 35-yard field goal with 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter to help the Bulldogs rally for a 9-7 win over the Crestwood varsity football team on Friday, Aug. 30 at Crestwood in the non-district season opener for both squads.

A pass interfence call on MFL-MM with no time left on the clock allowed the Cadets to move the ball to the Bulldogs’ 30-yard line, which gave Crestwood one more play on an untimed down. Cadet Ethan Casper attempted a 48-yard field goal on the next play, but the Bulldogs blocked it to clinch the win.

Despite losing the extremely hard-fought battle against a stout foe in MFM-MM, Crestwood Head Coach Justin Denner was impressed with the grit, effort and desire his squad displayed for four quarters.

“Our guys played their butts off for the whole game,” Denner said. “We were right there (with the Bulldogs). There were a few plays here and there that hurt us. 

“We had way too many penalties, which included foolish ones such as false starts and blocks in the back that didn’t impact the play. When you have too many penalities, it is really hard to beat a quality team such as MFL-MM. Those penalties messed up our momentum.

“However, our guys still played hard and did an outstanding job. I’m so proud of all of our guys,” Denner said.

The coach was thrilled to see his squad run the ball well against a solid Bulldog team. Crestwood finished the game with an impressive 279 yards rushing, which included 139 from quarterback Aidan Skoda and 106 yards from Brock Voyna.

“Aidan and Brock ran the ball well and our offensive line did a good job making adjustments on the fly,” Denner said. “On defense, we played well but we couldn’t win the first downs enough. MFL-MM was getting five and six yards on first downs, which put them in second-and-short plays. When we were able to win on first downs and give them a second-and-long, we were able to get off the field on defense. We just didn’t do that enough.

“We fought hard. Our guys bent but didn’t break and we were so close to getting the win. We have a lot of good things (to take from the game) but we just need to finish. We’ll get back to work and it will be all good,” Denner said.