Keller football narrowly falls to Flower Mound Marcus to open season
.jpg "Keller quarterback Brock Burkett scrambles away from a Flower Mound Marcus defender during the 4th quarter of a non-district game between Keller and Flower Mound Marcus at Keller ISD Stadium on August 28, 2025.")
Sometimes the game of football just breaks down to making one more big play than the opposition.
That is what happened on Thursda at Keller ISD Athletic Complex, when Flower Mound Marcus escaped with a 31-28 win over Keller in the 2025 season opener. Marcus had seven points off a turnover by Keller, and the Marauders did not turn the ball over.
“We had one turnover; they didn’t,” Keller coach Carl Stralow said. “But the thing is, both teams played very hard. It’s impressive how hard both teams played. We just probably made more mistakes than they did, so we got to clean it up. But good teams make the biggest jumps from Week 1 to Week 2, and so we’re going to try and get better.”
Last year, the season opener was close between the two, with Marcus winning 14-10.
This year’s game started an hour and a half later than scheduled due to lightning. Once the game started, the teams traded scores, and in the end, the only difference was a field goal by Santiago Diaz in the third quarter.
The stars of the games were quarterbacks Brock Burkett for Keller and Colton Nussmeier for Marcus.
“They’re both good players,” Stralow said. “I wouldn’t trade mine for anybody, and they wouldn’t either … but both are really good players.”
Burkett, who split time as QB1 last year before taking the job later in the year, ran for a pair of touchdowns for the Indians.
The first was an 11-yard score in the first to forge a 7-7 tie. His last, a 7-yard run, made it 31-28 with 3:29 to go in the contest.
“I’m comfortable with him having the keys to the Mercedes,” Stralow said of Burkett, a senior, taking over as the full-time starter.
In between the two scores, running backs Quintin Shropshire and Temi Ericson rushed for touchdowns for Keller.
Nussmeier, the son of New Orleans offensive coordinator Doug and the little brother of LSU quarterback Garrett, was the star of the game.
He ran for two scores and passed for two more.
He connected with Austin Allen for a 10-yard score with 1:17 left in the first.
The Marauders got the ball back only 50 seconds left after a fumble by Keller. Two plays into the second quarter, Nussmeier connected with Jameson Mayfield for a 7-yard touchdown to turn a turnover into a 21-7 lead.
The left-handed throwing Nussmeier is a four-star recruit according to 247Sports and holds 20 offers. That group includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, North Carolina, SMU, TCU and Texas Tech.
“There’s a reason he has a lot of opportunities; he’s a very talented player and I’m glad we don’t plan again next week,” Stralow said.
Perhaps the biggest backbreaker by Nussmeier came in the fourth quarter.
Facing a second-and-8 from the Keller 22, the Indians looked to have him wrapped up for a loss. Instead, he scrambled to his left, found a wide open lane and ran for a 22-yard touchdown to make it 31-21 with 7:14 to play.
After Burkett’s last touchdown run, Nussmeier guided the Marauders to three first downs to run out the clock and secure the win.
This story was originally published August 29, 2025 at 1:57 AM.