Laconia football successfully defends their house against non-conference rival Markesan

ROSENDALE - " No retreat, no surrender. That is Spartan law. And by Spartan law, we will stand and fight. "

One of the many famous quotes from the movie ' 300 ' holds true for the Laconia football Spartans, which through two games have held their opponents to a mere 15 points. Their record improved to 2-0, Thursday night, following a 20-8 victory over non-conference rival, Markesan.

"It was a great win; I'm proud of them," said Laconia coach Joe Leadley.

"It's an absolute battle every time we play Markesan. Our kids made some mistakes; we had quite a few penalties in the first half. (Junior running back) Jack (Rens) would run 10-12 yards and then we'd have a penalty to bring it back. We just talked to the kids at halftime, and it was just a matter of getting the kids on offense to move their feet a little bit. (Senior running back) Austin Martins came in for Jack and had that long run that tilted the field right at the end of the game and that was a big difference."

After the Hornets ran for 302 yards and five touchdowns as a team in their 42-6 Week 1 victory over Assumption, Leadley said he knew the Spartans' primary focus on defense was shutting down the rushing lanes up front.

"Defensively, I thought we played really well," Leadley said.

"We contained them; they had the one halfback option-type pass, but our kids just battled hard. We knew all week that they rushed for over 300 yards, last week, so they were going to try to run the ball. (Defensive coordinator) Coach Stiger did a great job coming up with a plan and the guys did a really great job in execution. Their quarterback got outside a couple times, and their backs got outside a couple times on sweeps, but for the most part we contained them. We got that early defensive touchdown in the game and that was huge for us; that got us off and running. The kids just kept battling and they didn't quit."

The play Leadley spoke of was made by senior defensive back Devon Robbins, whose scoop and score gave Laconia a quick 6-0 lead. Then, before the end of the first quarter, junior quarterback Drake Nitz connected with senior wide receiver Nick Blank for a second score and junior all-conference kicker Ethan Van Beek booted both extra points for a 14-0 advantage.

Markesan wouldn't go down so easily, however, scoring their lone touchdown and converting on a two-point try with just under two minutes left in the half to keep things close, 14-8, at the break.

Back and forth the teams traded field position until the only score in the second half came courtesy of Rens, whose 32-yard touchdown run put the Spartans comfortably ahead, 20-8.

"Coach just talked to us about that play," Rens said. "We didn't really run it in practice at all; we came into the locker room after school, and he talked to (me, Drake and Colton) about it. We put the play in right before the game and we ran and executed it perfectly."

Rens credited his lead blocker and offensive line for creating open room to roam.

"I love running behind Colton because he's a wrestler," Rens said. "He's tough, he's gritty, he's going to do anything he can to get the guy in front of him out of the way. I give everything up to the line and to Colton. Nothing will happen for me without them, so I'm thankful for them."

Leadley concurred with Rens' assessment on the value Hagner brings to the team at the fullback position.

"I thought Colton Hagner ran really well inside at fullback and he played well at linebacker," Leadley said. "(Markesan) just does a tough job with their defense, stunting and slanting; we knew it was coming, but we struggled to handle it, so give them credit for that the way they handled their defense."

Coach also gave a special shoutout to a freshman who stepped up when his number was called upon.

"We had a player disqualified earlier in the game and he was our center and long-snapper," Leadley said. "So, then we had a freshman come in who's never done it in a varsity game and he made great snaps on punts and on the extra points. That was a tremendous thing by Drake Stigler to do that."

To contact Lance LeQue, email him at LLeQue@gannett.com , or follow him on Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter, @LanceLeQue .

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This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: Laconia football successfully defends their house against non-conference rival Markesan