Marcus, Ia (Northwest Iowa Now) – We continue look at the Best Teams in the KICD 9-County Area over the 2025-2026 year today with football.

MMCRU had struggled since Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn and Remsen-Union merged in 2016. That merger followed a 2015 State Championship run in 8-Player for MMC. The Royals put together back-to-back 7-win seasons though in 2023 and 2024, with 2nd round Playoff exits each season. MMCRU brought back Quarterback Eli Harpenau, their top 3 rushers, 3 of their top 5 in tackles, 3 of their top 5 in tackles for loss, and most of their top turnover producers from that 2024 season to 2025.

The Royals had no trouble in their first 3 weeks, winning by an average of 36 points against Akron-Westfield, Hinton, and South O’Brien.

Sioux Central would be the first team to score double digits against MMCRU, but the week 4 matchup was still a 29-point drubbing in favor of the Royals.

The biggest stretch of the regular season was weeks 5, 6, and 7, featuring 3 teams that made the playoffs out of Class A District 1. MMCRU blanked Sibley-Ocheyedan 28-0, then rolled past Gehlen Catholic of Le Mars 28-7 to improve to 6-0. In what ended up being the game that decided the District Championship, MMCRU collided with West Sioux in Marcus. All of the scoring came in the first half, as the Royals took a 14-7 lead, and held through the end. MMCRU came away with 5 interceptions in that game, including 2 from Senior Wyatt Alesch. The Royals only turned over the football once to the 6 from the Falcons as they grew their record to 7-0 with just a week left to the regular season.

After thumping Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn in Week 8, MMCRU burned past Belmond-Klemme in the first round of the playoffs. The Royals got Gehlen Catholic of Le Mars in the 2nd round after the Jays just got done upsetting West Hancock in the first round on the road. MMCRU shut-out Gehlen 37-0, already surpassing their success of the last two years by moving on to the State Quarterfinals.

Woodbury Central stood in MMCRU’s way from the Royals first trip back to the UNI-Dome since the merger. The Wildcats may be frequent travelers to Cedar Falls, but they weren’t in 2025, as MMCRU bludgeoned Woodbury Central 42-6, advancing to the State Semifinals as the #1 seed.

A rematch with West Sioux awaited the Royals in the UNI-Dome. The High-octane West Sioux Offense was once again stifled by MMCRU’s defense. Both Gage Johnson and Wyatt Alesch had interceptions again against Falcon Quarterback Blake Wiggins. Eli Harpenau threw for 212 yards and 4 Touchdowns, with 3 of those going to Michael Schmiillen. Harpenau, the Junior, also led the Royals in rushing with 53 yards on the ground. MMCRU cruised to a 28-0 win, advancing into the State Championship game.

The State Championship opponent for MMCRU was Saint Ansgar. The Royals jumped out to a 10-0 lead after the first quarter and held a 17-7 lead at the half. The Saints inched within a Touchdown after a 3rd quarter Field Goal, but MMCRU outscored Saint Ansgar 13-7 in the 4th to come away with a 30-17 win. The Royals Defense once again did a great job of taking the ball away, recovering two fumbles and intercepting a pass, neutralizing the 3 interceptions thrown by their offense. The Royals spread out 41 carries for 156 yards and 3 Touchdowns amongst Brayson Mulder, Eli Harpenau, and John Schmillen in a balanced rushing attack.

After a year where he passed for just shy of 2000 yards and 29 Touchdowns while rushing for 447 yards and 10 Touchdowns, Eli Harpenau will return for his Senior season in 2026. He is going to have to up his production even further with two 500-yard rushers, and their top 6 receivers graduating. Defensively, MMCRU also graduates their top 9 tacklers, and almost all of their turnover production from this State Championship team.

This has been another edition of Northwest Iowa Now’s Best Teams of the KICD 9-County Area in 2025-2026. Be on the lookout for our next story on Girls Swimming.