The Harrisburg Bulldogs picked up their first win of the season at home Friday, defeating Lewis & Clark Conference powerhouse Marceline, 28-20.

The win was also the first for Bulldogs coach Brennan Claas, who is in his first season as a head coach.

Coach Claas hails from Macon, and friends and family were in the stands to watch his first home game. “It was pretty special,” Claas said on Saturday. “It was nice to see everybody. I’m just super proud of the kids.”

Friday’s win was the second in a row over Marceline. Harrisburg is the defending Lewis & Clark Conference champions, and defeating the Tigers was a good start for the title defense.

Harrisburg struck first with a seven-yard rushing touchdown by sophomore Caleb Sagers midway through the first period.

Sagers scored again in the second quarter, this time on a pass from junior quarterback Trace Combs on a busted play. 

“It was a great play by those two to keep it alive,” Claas recalled. “[Sagers] made a great catch running across the back of the end zone. Combs kept that play alive. It was a great play by him to roll back to his weak side, turn his hips, and throw an absolutely perfect ball to Sagers in the endzone.”

The Bulldogs would build their lead to 22-0 through nearly three quarters. But Marceline found its footing, turning what should have been a disastrous play into a touchdown. After the snap went over the head of the Tigers’ quarterback, he picked it up and ran 80 yards for a touchdown to put Marceline on the scoreboard.

“He picked it up and just outran our guys. And then all of a sudden, they got a whole lot of momentum and fed off of that,” Claas said.

Trailing 22-6 after three quarters, the Tigers scored twice more in the fourth quarter.

“They found another gear,” Claas said. “They changed up their defense, it seemed like, and caught us off guard. They’ve got some speed, and when they found the edge, we had a hard time containing them.”

That’s when Harrisburg went back to its bread and butter. Again, it was Sagers. This time from six yards out to give the Bulldogs an eight-point lead it would hold until the final buzzer.

Sagers finished the night with 135 yards rushing on 27 carries with two touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 33 yards and a score.

“He’s coming along very nicely,” Claas said. “He sees the game better right now than he did at the beginning of the year. He’s making some cuts, and he ran hard and broke some tackles and a few third and fourth-down conversions. It was a great game for him, and he had a big smile on his face all night.”

Combs had another solid night as he continues to improve at quarterback. The southpaw completed 11 of 15 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown. He also made a diving rushing touchdown in the second quarter to put the Bulldogs in front by two scores.

“That was definitely his most efficient outing,” Claas said. “He did a good job of finding guys who were open and hitting them in rhythm.”

Leading the receivers once again was Hunter Cole. The senior made three catches for 71 yards. Junior Bryce Ott had two grabs for 50 yards.

“Everybody keeps getting better, and that’s a good thing. We’re on the right path. I’m proud of how far we’ve come in three weeks,” Claas said.

The Bulldogs will celebrate Homecoming next week with a 7 p.m. game against Milan (2-1). The speedy Wildcats rushed for more than 300 yards during a 36-6 win over Putnam County last Friday.

On September 22, the Bulldogs open a three-week road trip with a 7 p.m. game at Salisbury. They won’t return home until October 13 when they hosts rival Fayette.