Marquette couldn’t wait to respond to last week’s loss, even if that wait included an extra 80 minutes following a lightning delay.

After they took the field Friday, the Crusaders built a 22-point lead fueled by two Dwight fumbles on the Cru’s way to a 50-19 conference win.

“Coming off last week, this whole week, we were worried about how we were going to respond after a tough loss like last week,” Crusaders running back Jaxson Higgins said of the 9-6 loss to Wisconsin small-school state champion Edgar.

“It was just right off the bat. We knew we had to come out perfect and do everything perfectly.”

The Crusaders (2-2, 1-0) defense forced a three-and-out, then Marquette’s offense drove 65 yards on seven plays, highlighted by a 62-yard pass from Anthony Couch to Lucas Craig and capped off by a 2-yard Grant Dose run.

“You always wonder how are our kids going to come out mentally and physically, and I told them beforehand that whoever comes out mentally prepared and ready to get after it is going to be the team that can jump out to a lead,” said Marquette coach Ken Carlson. “And we were able to do that.”

The Trojans’ (2-2, 0-1) next two drives ended with fumbles.

“Anytime you turn the ball over that many times, you’re going to have a hard time winning football games,” said Dwight coach Luke Standiford.

The Crusaders capitalized on both turnovers, scoring on a 52-yard Higgins run and then a 31-yard pass from Couch to Craig.

Falling behind 22-0, the Trojans scored on a 59-yard pass from Collin Bachand to Landon Koger on the very next play, forced a punt, then drove 64 yards on 11 plays, capped off by a Bachand sneak for a touchdown.

The Trojans were within 10 points with 9:23 remaining in the second quarter, recovering a fumble on their own 6-yard line with a chance to draw within one score, but Marquette’s Higgins came up with an interception.

“There were some positives,” Standiford said. “We were in the game for a little bit in the first half. And then, you know, there were just too many explosive plays. We were close to getting a couple of stops, they converted on fourth down a couple of times, and we just didn’t make the plays in our secondary we needed to stop their passing attack.”

Following the interception, the Crusaders put their foot on the gas pedal. Connor Baker scored the next three touchdowns, two rushing and a 60-yarder through the air.

“Before that, I’ve had one touchdown in my high school career,” Baker said. “So it felt amazing. I knew I was going to get some touches, but I didn’t know it was going to go that well.”

Marquette’s Blayden Cassel and Dwight freshman Dalton Delong scored the game’s other touchdowns.

“We handled the failures from last week really well, and we prepared the right way,” Carlson said. “Now we have to handle success the right way.”

Marquette will face off against rival St. Bede in Week 5. Dwight travels to defending conference champion Seneca.

“We have to learn from our mistakes and not dwell on this loss too long, because we have a tough one coming,” Standiford said. “We know who they are, and we know it’s going to be a battle, so the focus right now is just to come back next week and have a good week of preparation.”

Higgins finished with 125 yards rushing on 11 carries. Couch completed 4-of-6 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns with Craig hauling in 93 of those yards. For Dwight, Bachand was 6-of-17 for 115 yards passing.