NEW GLARUS - With horns blaring and a swarm of fans on the sideline, senior quarterback Ryan Bright walked off the field and raised his helmet in jubilation after the Knights beat Marshall, 19-7, to clinch a share of the Capitol South Conference title.
Bright rushed for 128 yards on 10 carries and scored three second half touchdowns to propel the Knights to their first conference championship since 2005. In 2005, the Knights won the Trailways Large Conference.
With Waterloo beating Belleville-Albany, 28-6 Thursday night, that assured a three-way conference co-championship with New Glarus-Monticello, Marshall and Waterloo.
"It feels great," Bright said. "Never before has a team been so supportive as right now. Whatever it takes to win and that is what happened tonight."
Bright, who also completed 3 of 6 passes for 50 yards, scored his first touchdown on a 63-yard run on a triple option play. He credited his line for allowing him to turn the corner.
"The line did a great job of blocking and getting me to the edge," he said.
The Knights (7-2, 4-1) also overcame a blocked punt, six penalties for 50 yards and playing on a saturated field.
"I'm really proud of the guys," New Glarus-Monticello coach Jeff Eichelkraut said. "We had so many injuries and setbacks at certain times. It would have been easy for them to quit. That's what a conference champion is like."
The Knights' defense forced the Cardinals into six turnovers on downs, two fumbles and an interception.
Bright's first touchdown was set up by a Cardinals' fumble. New Glarus-Monticello junior Tyler Dorn intercepted a Skyler Meyers pass and returned it 30 yards to set up the Knights' second score. Four plays later on fourth down, Bright hooked up with senior Cameron Jeglum on a 19-yard touchdown pass to give the Knights a 13-0 lead with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Knights had to overcome some adversity to seal the win. Marshall senior Thurston Schuster returned a blocked punt 32-yards for a touchdown to cut the Knights' lead to 13-7 with 5:22 to go.
"I still thought we would win," Bright said after the Cardinals scored on the punt block. "We have been resilient all year. I still had confidence that we would win."
Marshall junior kicker Cody Madaus recovered his onside kick attempt to give the Cardinals a chance to regain the lead. However, New Glarus-Monticello's defense stuffed Marshall and the Cardinals turned the ball over on downs with under two minutes to go.
Bright put the dagger in the Cardinals when it looked like he was just going to run the clock down before getting to the edge and bolting for a 64-yard touchdown run.
"We felt like our athletes on the edge were better than theirs," Eichelkraut said.
Bright rushed for 128 yards on 10 carries and scored three second half touchdowns to propel the Knights to their first conference championship since 2005. In 2005, the Knights won the Trailways Large Conference.
With Waterloo beating Belleville-Albany, 28-6 Thursday night, that assured a three-way conference co-championship with New Glarus-Monticello, Marshall and Waterloo.
"It feels great," Bright said. "Never before has a team been so supportive as right now. Whatever it takes to win and that is what happened tonight."
Bright, who also completed 3 of 6 passes for 50 yards, scored his first touchdown on a 63-yard run on a triple option play. He credited his line for allowing him to turn the corner.
"The line did a great job of blocking and getting me to the edge," he said.
The Knights (7-2, 4-1) also overcame a blocked punt, six penalties for 50 yards and playing on a saturated field.
"I'm really proud of the guys," New Glarus-Monticello coach Jeff Eichelkraut said. "We had so many injuries and setbacks at certain times. It would have been easy for them to quit. That's what a conference champion is like."
The Knights' defense forced the Cardinals into six turnovers on downs, two fumbles and an interception.
Bright's first touchdown was set up by a Cardinals' fumble. New Glarus-Monticello junior Tyler Dorn intercepted a Skyler Meyers pass and returned it 30 yards to set up the Knights' second score. Four plays later on fourth down, Bright hooked up with senior Cameron Jeglum on a 19-yard touchdown pass to give the Knights a 13-0 lead with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Knights had to overcome some adversity to seal the win. Marshall senior Thurston Schuster returned a blocked punt 32-yards for a touchdown to cut the Knights' lead to 13-7 with 5:22 to go.
"I still thought we would win," Bright said after the Cardinals scored on the punt block. "We have been resilient all year. I still had confidence that we would win."
Marshall junior kicker Cody Madaus recovered his onside kick attempt to give the Cardinals a chance to regain the lead. However, New Glarus-Monticello's defense stuffed Marshall and the Cardinals turned the ball over on downs with under two minutes to go.
Bright put the dagger in the Cardinals when it looked like he was just going to run the clock down before getting to the edge and bolting for a 64-yard touchdown run.
"We felt like our athletes on the edge were better than theirs," Eichelkraut said.
