‘That’s the marquee win we’ve been waiting for:’ Bulldogs take down Regina 21-7

By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

The MFL MarMac football team defeated Iowa City Regina Catholic 21-7 on Oct. 29, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Class 1A playoffs. In what head coach Dan Anderson called the program’s marquee win, the Bulldogs were able to take down a Regal team that was the state champion a year ago—one of seven in the last 11 years—and undefeated this season.

“Other schools can hear the name Regina and think they’re beat before they step on the field,” Anderson said. “Our kids didn’t care who it was—just played hard nosed football, no turnovers. Our kids believed we could win this ball game. They played awesome football and took care of business.”

“This feels really good,” shared player Karter Decker. “They had a really good win streak going and state champs last year, undefeated this year. This is the biggest win probably in school history. This is for sure the biggest win for us.”

The Bulldogs were in control throughout the game, putting up a 21-0 lead in the first half on two Decker touchdowns and another by Cullen McShane. 

That early success, said Anderson, “proved to our kids right away that we can play with these guys.”

MFL MarMac’s defense, meanwhile, held Regina to just 77 rushing yards and kept the powerful Regal offense off the board until late in the fourth quarter.

“Last week I thought was one of the best defensive efforts we ever had, but we might have had it beat tonight,” said Anderson. “The kids executed the game plan perfectly.”

Coming into the game, linebacker Wyatt Powell said the team switched up its defense to contain the Regina quarterback—a position two Regals ended up playing that night.

“We rallied to the ball and didn’t let up any big plays,” he said.

“We knew we had to get a little pressure on them,” added Anderson, who said the Regals run a zone read: they stick the ball in the running back’s gut and don’t block an outside linebacker. The quarterback reads the running back, and if he crashes into the tackle, then the QB pulls it and runs outside. 

“We have to always, no matter what defensive call we have and what defense we’re in, have a guy that is assigned to the quarterback if he would pull the ball. A lot of times it was [Austin] Schlee, Powell or Decker. They were communicating with the rest of their teammates, saying I’ve got quarterback,” Anderson explained.

That communication was key, noted Schlee.

“When we know our positions, we know how to execute the play correctly,” he shared.

MFL MarMac moved its linebackers around and disguised coverage, so Regina didn’t know who was coming. The Bulldog defensive linemen also played low, not giving Regina’s all-state offensive linemen the opportunity to get underneath their pads and hold on. 

The team was content to give up some shorter pass plays, but that was about the only offensive success the Regals had all night.

“We’ll give them some short stuff because they’re eventually going to make a mistake, give up a sack,” said Anderson.

The Bulldogs had two sacks in the game, one from Schlee and another by McShane, along with half a dozen tackles for a loss. McShane, who snagged the team’s only interception, had 7.5 tackles, as did Bryce Radloff. Schlee added 6 and Tristen Koehn 5.5. Decker and Powell each accumulated 4.5.

“We came out really jacked up,” said Powell. “We played four great quarters and, sometimes, you can’t do that. Tonight, we really showed we can do that.”

“We’ve just got to give intensity every time,” Schlee added, “and once we get that flow of intensity going, we’re just all on the train.”

Offensively, Decker was one of MFL MarMac’s prime targets. He cranked out 70 of the team’s 200 rushing yards and scored a touchdown. He also caught one pass: a 37-yard scoring reception.

McShane had 77 yards and a touchdown on 15 rushing attempts and caught one pass. Gabe McGeough touched the ball 16 times for 60 yards.

Quarterback Carver Blietz-Bentien completed three of seven passes, picking up 67 yards and a touchdown.

Decker said much of the team’s success can be attributed to playing together.

“Some of the weeks before, we would get down on each other and argue a little bit. These last two weeks, we’ve really played together. That’s getting us these wins,” he shared. “Now, we know we can compete with the top of the state, that we’re one of the best teams in the state. It’s really big confidence for us.”

Instead of looking at the match-up with Regina as a David versus Goliath moment, Anderson said he saw MFL MarMac as a Goliath in its own right.

“We’ve won 21 of 24. Gabe and Cullen and Decker, together, in the last few years, have 6,193 rushing yards. They have 81 touchdowns,” he reflected. “We’ve stopped every team this year defensively running the ball and held them way below season average. We belong.”

“We’re playing great football at the right time, and we’re playing as a unit,” he added.

That’s important heading into the Nov. 5 quarterfinal game at Beckman Catholic. The undefeated Blazers beat the Bulldogs handily in a turnover-ridden match-up just a few weeks ago.

MFL MarMac is excited to get another shot.

“We knew we didn’t play well in that first game, and we’re excited to get them back. We kicked ourselves over and over again in that game, and if we just play together, we’re not going to let that happen again,” Decker said.

Anderson agreed.

“The last time we played them, I don’t think that score was indicative of what kind of a football team we are,” he explained. “We play good defense, great team football, I think we can get down to the UNI-Dome, to the semifinals.”