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Title-favored Sun Prairie outlast Craig in Big Eight football opener

SUN PRAIRIE — Janesville Craig waited out a 40-minute weather delay, due to lightning Friday night, but had no answer for the electricity Sun Prairie’s Sean Marshall provided.

Marshall rushed for 199 yards and five touchdowns as the Big Eight preseason favorites held off the visiting Cougars, 40-35, in a season and conference opener.

Marshall, a senior tailback, scored all five touchdowns in the first half for a 33-21 lead.

After trailing 40-21 after three periods, Craig rallied with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Drilon Grajcevci’s 5-yard run pulled the Cougars within 40-35 with 3:10 remaining.

Sun Prairie ran out the clock, with the help of a pass interference penalty on third-and-10 and ran out the final 2:20 with four straight runs.

The loss spoiled the debut of Craig’s first-year head coach, Ben McCormick.

The shootout produced 984 yards of offense. Junior quarterback Myles Johnson provided the bulk of the Cougar offense, throwing for 265 yards in completing 10 of 20 passes, including a 63-yard TD pass to Brett Bates, which brought Craig within 40-28.

Sun Prairie ripped the Cougars’ defense for 279 yards rushing and 269 yards passing.

SUN PRAIRIE 40, CRAIG 35

Janesville Craig 6 15 0 14—35

Sun Prairie 13 20 7 0—40

Scoring summary: SP—Sean Marshall, 49 run (Jordan Noble kick). JC—Brett Bates, 35 pass from Myles Johnson (kick failed). SP—Marshall, 5 run (kick failed). SP—Marshall, 4 run (Noble kick). JC—Mitch Phillips, 25 run (Tom Kitching kick). SP—Marshall, 6 run (Noble kick). JC—Johnson, 37 run (Johnson run). SP—Marshall, 12 run (Noble kick). SP—Tyler Patterson, 2 run (Noble kick). JC—Bates, 63 pass from Johnson (Kitching kick). JC—Dylan Grajcevci, 5 run (Kitching kick).

Statistics: First downs—JC 12, SP 23. Rushing—JC 19-185, SP 50-279. Yards passing—JC 273, SP 269. Passes—JC 20-10-1, SP 18-11-0. Fumbles—JC 0-0, SP 1-1. Penalties—JC 8-81, SP 2-30.