CAMBRIDGE, Wis. — The New Glarus Glarner Knights opened the 2026 season with the kind of game that has become increasingly familiar whenever New Glarus and Cambridge get together: close, physical and unsettled until the final seconds.

New Glarus erased a 24-20 fourth-quarter deficit, took the lead on Carson Prechel's touchdown with 8:43 remaining and then survived two late Cambridge possessions for a 28-24 victory Friday night at Bob Nodolf Field. Ethan Colstad's interception and an intentional-grounding safety in the final eight minutes helped the Knights finish the job.

The nonconference opener carried a little more edge than the label suggests. New Glarus and Cambridge have developed plenty of familiarity across sports, including tight games last school year in which the Glarner Knights helped derail Cambridge conference-title hopes in both boys and girls basketball. Friday night's football meeting followed the same theme.

Showers moved through Cambridge earlier in the day but cleared before kickoff, leaving a sunny late-summer evening and a temperature of 73 degrees. New Glarus wore its road combination of red pants, white jerseys and white helmets, while Cambridge dressed in blue with white helmets. It was the first of nine regular-season games for a New Glarus team beginning a new era following last year's 10-2 conference championship and Level 3 playoff season.