CRANDON, WIS — The Northern Elite Predators traveled to Crandon Thursday night to complete their regular season and defeated the host Cardinals 12-6. The Marinette-Oconto-Northern Lakes-Packerland Conference matchup was rescheduled from last Friday night.

The win was the first conference victory of the season for head coach Ben Laarman and the Predators, who finished with a 2-5 overall record.

“They drove it to our 5 with a little over two minutes left but Travis Mullikin stopped them in the backfield on 4th and one,” said Predators coach Ben Laarman. “We picked up a couple of first downs to melt the clock and end it.”

N. Elite totaled 275 yards of offense on the night, with 264 of them coming in the rushing department. Landon Kalkofen led the way with 121 yards on 26 carries and a 5-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Elliot Peterson added 90 yards on six carries, to go along with his 7-yard touchdown pass to Josh Wallschlaeger.

Defensively, Kalkofen and Austin Plonke led the way with 12 total tackles apiece. Wallschlaeger added eight tackles, as did Mullikin.

“We struggled at times but were able to come up with some big plays with the game on the line to come away with the victory,” Laarman said.

The Predators coach saluted the three seniors on the team.

“Josh Wallschlaeger was the leader,” he said. “He was so tough and reliable all year and throughout his four years in the program. Austin Plonke came out for his first time ever playing football this year, and I don’t know what we would have done without him. It was incredible how quickly he learned the game and how good he got in a short amount of time. Destany Bourassa is as tough as they come. She was giving up a lot of size but never backed down. She’s also one of the most positive people I’ve been around. We are going to miss all three of them tremendously,” he said.

Northern Elite’s other victory came in their trip to South Beloit High School in Illinois in September.

Northern Elite 6 6 0 0 — 12

Crandon 0 6 0 0 — 6