09/22/2026
Keep it rolling! Go Red!
Marquette has gone from 0-2 to one of the more interesting teams in these rankings. The Sentinels opened with a 30-28 loss to Negaunee before being handled 49-19 by defending Division 7 state champion Menominee. Since then, they've responded with a 47-8 win over Sault Ste. Marie and, more importantly, a 33-27 victory over Cadillac. That's 80 points over the last two weeks, capped by the signature win this résumé was missing.
The offense showed signs well before the wins started coming. Winston Leonard threw for 213 yards and two touchdowns against Negaunee, then went 21-of-36 for 278 yards and two more scores against Menominee. Landen Faccio provides balance on the ground, rushing for 71 yards against Negaunee and 84 against Menominee, including a 53-yard run. Marquette may have walked out of those first two games 0-2, but Leonard had already thrown for 491 yards against two quality opponents.
There are weapons around him, too. Skyler Blackburn caught five passes for 82 yards against Negaunee, Wesley Robinson had seven catches for 50, and Evan Brown's 52-yard touchdown helped turn what looked like a comfortable Negaunee win into a two-point game. Against Sault, the big plays continued: Leonard hit Robinson for a 52-yard touchdown and Brody Clements for an 85-yard score. This isn't an offense that needs to methodically grind out every scoring drive — Marquette has shown it can flip the field quickly.
Defensively, that's also been the concern. Negaunee completed only seven passes against Marquette, but those seven went for 197 yards — nearly 28 yards per completion. Evan DellAngelo caught just three of them and turned all three into touchdowns covering 145 yards, including scores of 61, 63 and 21 yards. Menominee then attacked Marquette differently: Jackson Myszak ran for 240 yards on 25 carries, while Dylan Beal went 9-of-11 for 209 yards and five touchdowns. Marquette has been susceptible to explosive plays both through the air and on the ground, and that's still the biggest question surrounding this team.
But the response matters. Marquette held Sault scoreless through three quarters in a 47-8 win, then followed it by beating Cadillac 33-27 to get back to .500. The Sentinels aren't here because the first two weeks are being ignored — they're here partly because of what those games showed, and because of what Marquette has done since. They battled Negaunee to the final possession, took their lumps against Menominee, and have now answered with consecutive wins. At 2-2, Marquette isn't without flaws, but the trajectory — and now the résumé — looks considerably different than it did two weeks ago.
