Colton Hagner forced a fumble less than four minutes into the game on a Markesan running play.
Devon Robbins scooped the ball off the ground and sprinted into the end zone for the early lead.
Despite the offense having some ups and downs, the Laconia defense led the team to a 20-8 nonconference win on Thursday night in Rosendale.
Markesan had come off a week one win in which its offense rushed for more than 300 yards. Spartans coach Joe Leadley said his defensive staff, led by defensive coordinator Justin Stigler, knew they would have to stop the run to be successful.
"We knew they were going to try to run the ball," Leadley said. "Coach Stigler did a great job with the plan, our guys did a great job of execution.
"Their quarterback got outside a couple of times on sweeps, but for the most part, we contained him."
The Spartans (2-0) got the early defensive touchdown, forced a three-and-out and then quickly drove down the field and doubled their lead on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Drake Nitz to Nick Blank, who outjumped the defensive back in tight coverage.
For nearly two quarters afterward, though, the Spartans struggled to maintain the momentum they had established in the first quarter. Nitz completed just one more pass and threw an interception less than a minute before halftime.
Leadley said staff discussed the struggles, some of which were self-imposed due to pre-snap and holding penalties, with the team at halftime.
"We just talked to the kids at halftime that it was just a matter of getting the guys on offense to move their feet a little bit, but defensively I thought we contained them well," Leadley said.
The second quarter included a long, time-consuming drive from Markesan (1-1) that ended with a Treston Eckstein rushing touchdown and a successful 2-point conversion.
Despite the struggles, Rens said the team had total confidence in Nitz to keep them going.
"When we come into the huddle, Drake’s telling everyone to do their job and do it right," Rens said. "Everything will go right if you do your job. Drake’s a great leader, perfect guy to step up and take over.
"We knew we had to stay confident. Our defense was killing it."
Rens, who rushed for 138 yards, helped turn the momentum back in the Spartans favor with a 32-yard touchdown run with 1:32 left in the third quarter. It extended the lead to 12 and helped seal the win.
He said the play was new and installed shortly before the game.
"We didn’t really run it in practice at all," Rens said. "We came into the locker room after school, [coach] talked to me, Drake and Colton. We put the play in right before the game, we ran it and executed it perfectly.
"I love running behind Colton because he’s a wrestler. He’s tough, he’s gritty, he’s going to do anything he can to get that guy out of the way."
Hagner also led the team with 18 total tackles.
Laconia lost senior lineman and long snapper Simeon Ford when he got into a scuffle with a Markesan player, which led to Ford's disqualification.
The Spartans turned to freshman Drake Stigler to long snap for the rest of the game, which included several punts and a kick.
"We had a freshman come in, who had never done it in a varsity game and he came in and made great snaps on punts and on the extra points," Leadley said.
Softball Honored:
The 2024 Laconia softball team was also honored prior to kickoff for being awarded the WIAA Sportsmanship Award from their run to the state championship in the spring.
Players along with the coaching staff were given a trophy and a banner.
GALLERY: Laconia football vs. Markesan - 8/29/2024
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