Krambeer field goal wins season opener for Bulldogs

By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

Ben Krambeer aced a 35-yard field goal with 15 seconds remaining to give MFL MarMac a 9-7 win over Crestwood in the Aug. 30 football season opener.

It was the only game-winning field goal head coach Dan Anderson could recall in recent program history.

“To kick a game-winning field goal, that’s something you see in the NFL. This is high school kids,” he said. 

The field goal marked the first points in the game since the opening half. Crestwood went up 7-0 on its first drive, then Krambeer missed a field goal at the end of the quarter that would have trimmed the Cadet lead to four points. The Bulldogs got on the board before halftime, on a four-yard run by Parker Kuehl. A missed extra point left Crestwood ahead 7-6.

MFL MarMac wasn’t worried when the Cadets scored first, said Anderson. He told his players the previous day in practice, “It’s going to take a little while for you to get game speed. You’re probably going to have that deer in the headlights look the first drive. Just settle in.”

“When they scored, I said, ‘Guys, we’ll figure it out.’ We always figure it out,” Anderson shared. 

Despite compiling 279 yards rushing, including 139 by quarterback Aidan Skoda, who was their running back a season ago, that drive was the only time the Cadets scored all game.

“The defense played lights out the whole rest of the game against a really fast quarterback. There were a lot of seniors on that team, and we knew they were going to be tough,” Anderson said. “But our kids kept fighting and didn’t panic and found a way at the end.”

The Bulldogs managed the final minutes of the game well, driving down field, then drawing Crestwood offsides on fourth down and four yards to go near the 25 yardline—a pivotal moment that kept the offense on the field.

“It was a great job of being disciplined and getting them to jump offsides on fourth down. We ran a couple plays and had a few timeouts left in our back pocket,” ahead of Krambeer’s field goal, Anderson said.

The coach had no doubts about putting the senior—last year’s district special teams MVP—in position to clinch the victory. 

“Before we even got down that far, I looked at him and asked, ‘Do you feel good kicking a 50?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ And I believed him too. Luckily, we didn’t have to do that,” Anderson said.

He was admittedly more concerned about the snap, which had hurt the earlier point after attempt as well as a punt. Through a shoulder injury, Hunter Christofferson got the snap down, and Carter Stoddard had a great hold, to set Krambeer up for success.

Anderson called the series of events clutch. So was MFL MarMac’s defense in the final 10 seconds, as Crestwood tried to rally.

“Those guys made a few plays and we had a pass interference call, but we prepare for everything. We were ready for that situation and got the job done,” Anderson said. “I’m super proud of the kids. They stayed cool—cooler than I did—on the sidelines.”

Senior Quinn McGeough led MFL MarMac’s defense with 9.5 total tackles—7 of which were solo efforts. Eli Hanson racked up 6.5 total tackles and Brock Hackett 4.5, while Keith Anderson and Stoddard had 3.5 apiece.

McGeough was also key offensively, earning 126 of the Bulldogs’ 220 rushing yards on 25 carries. Kuehl picked up 65 yards and a touchdown on nine attempts.

As quarterback, Stoddard completed four of seven passes for 34 yards. Hanson had 27 of those on a trio of catches.

Anderson acknowledged the Bulldogs still have a few things to clean up heading into the home opener against Waukon on Sept. 6. 

“But you can’t expect to be in tip top shape the first game of the year,” he said. “It’s good to get out of here with a win against a bigger school that’s a playoff team from last year.”