On a night that felt made for football, the New Glarus Glarner Knights gave the home crowd plenty to enjoy beyond Oktoberfest downtown, taking control early and rolling past the Richland Center Hornets 45-7 Friday at The Bank of New Glarus Field.

New Glarus entered the nonconference game 4-1 overall, ranked No. 7 in the Division 5 coaches poll, and quickly looked the part. The Glarner Knights scored twice in the opening quarter, piled up 31 unanswered points before halftime and kept Richland Center out of the end zone until the fourth quarter.

Junior Brady Baer opened the scoring with 7:13 left in the first quarter, plunging into the end zone for the first of his two rushing touchdowns. Freshman Brock Weeden added the extra point, then repeatedly used his leg to help New Glarus control field position throughout the night.

Less than two minutes later, senior Carson Prechel broke loose for a 37-yard touchdown run. Weeden’s second extra point made it 14-0, and the Knights had already established the formula that would carry them through the night: run the football, make Richland Center drive a long field and let an aggressive defense go to work.