DARLINGTON - When Darlington's offense and defense got on a roll Saturday, senior Myles Leahy was in the middle of it all.
Leahy scored five touchdowns (four rushing, one receiving and had one interception) to propel the Redbirds to a 66-6 win over Racine Lutheran in a WIAA Division 6 Level 1 playoff game Saturday at Martens Field.
Darlington senior running back Jason Singer rushed for 91 yards on five carries and scored three touchdowns (two rushing and one receiving). Leahy rushed for 85 yards on seven carries.
Darlington (9-1), ranked No. 5 in the WisSports.net Coaches poll, scored eight touchdowns on its first eight possessions to roll to the win. With the win, Darlington advances and will host SWAL rival Mineral Point in a Level 2 playoff game at 1 p.m. Saturday.
"Our front seven dominated the line," Darlington coach Scott Zywicki said. "Racine Lutheran is very young and they don't have the physicality we have. Once we got a few turnovers, it started to snowball on them. We had it clicking."
The Redbirds were clicking on all cylinders from the opening kickoff. Darlington senior linebacker Brett Erickson stripped a screen pass away from Racine Lutheran running back Shamaj Williams and he recovered the fumble. That set up the Redbirds' first scoring opportunity. Singer raced for a 23-yard TD run.
Darlington scored 32 points off the seven turnovers its defense forced. The Redbirds had four interceptions - two by Hunter Johnson and one each by Leahy and Cole McDonald.
"Brett is not used to playing linebacker any more because he has been on the line," Zywicki said. "He hasn't had the reps at linebacker. He read the screen pass beautifully and attacked the front wall to get behind them. He did everything on that one play."
The Redbirds then cashed in on a five-play, 66-yard drive, with Singer breaking loose for a 24-yard TD run. Johnson had a 24- and 18-yard runs on the drive.
Williams entered the game with 1,221 rushing yards, 17 TDs and averaged 135.7 yards per game. The Redbirds bottled up Williams limiting him to 29 rushing yards on 13 carries.
Leahy had an 8-yard TD run with 5:19 left in the first quarter to give the Redbirds a 19-0 lead. Johnson had a key interception late in the first quarter. One play later, Leahy rammed in for a 13-yard TD run to extend the Redbirds' lead to 25-0. Disaster struck Racine Lutheran again as they fumbled and Darlington's Logan Muhlstein recovered at the Crusaders' 39-yard line. One play later, Leahy rumbled for a 35-yard TD run to give the Redbirds a 32-0 lead.
McDonald completed 3 of 3 passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns. He connected with Singer on an 18-yard TD pass to start the second quarter. He then hooked up with Leahy for a 13-yard TD pass.
Leahy had an interception in the second quarter. Two plays later, he scored on a 15-yard run to give the Redbirds a 53-0 lead.
"He is very calm back there," Zywicki said of McDonald at quarterback. "He has made great decisions for us. He has added a dimension to our passing attack."
Darlington backup quarterback Jared Meister was 4 of 9 passing for 100 yards with two touchdowns including a 15-yard TD pass to Brayden McDonald and a 48-yard TD strike to Kameron Blosch.
The Redbirds will now gear up to play Mineral Point with the state's fourth leading passer in Scott Pittz who has passed for 2,523 yards this season. It will be a homecoming of sorts for Mineral Point coach Andy Palzkill who was the offensive coordinator in Darlington before taking the head coaching position for the Pointers.
"They will throw the ball a lot," Zywicki said. "There is no doubt about that. We have a size advantage in the trenches. Andy is smart enough not to put a square peg in a round hole."
Leahy scored five touchdowns (four rushing, one receiving and had one interception) to propel the Redbirds to a 66-6 win over Racine Lutheran in a WIAA Division 6 Level 1 playoff game Saturday at Martens Field.
Darlington senior running back Jason Singer rushed for 91 yards on five carries and scored three touchdowns (two rushing and one receiving). Leahy rushed for 85 yards on seven carries.
Darlington (9-1), ranked No. 5 in the WisSports.net Coaches poll, scored eight touchdowns on its first eight possessions to roll to the win. With the win, Darlington advances and will host SWAL rival Mineral Point in a Level 2 playoff game at 1 p.m. Saturday.
"Our front seven dominated the line," Darlington coach Scott Zywicki said. "Racine Lutheran is very young and they don't have the physicality we have. Once we got a few turnovers, it started to snowball on them. We had it clicking."
The Redbirds were clicking on all cylinders from the opening kickoff. Darlington senior linebacker Brett Erickson stripped a screen pass away from Racine Lutheran running back Shamaj Williams and he recovered the fumble. That set up the Redbirds' first scoring opportunity. Singer raced for a 23-yard TD run.
Darlington scored 32 points off the seven turnovers its defense forced. The Redbirds had four interceptions - two by Hunter Johnson and one each by Leahy and Cole McDonald.
"Brett is not used to playing linebacker any more because he has been on the line," Zywicki said. "He hasn't had the reps at linebacker. He read the screen pass beautifully and attacked the front wall to get behind them. He did everything on that one play."
The Redbirds then cashed in on a five-play, 66-yard drive, with Singer breaking loose for a 24-yard TD run. Johnson had a 24- and 18-yard runs on the drive.
Williams entered the game with 1,221 rushing yards, 17 TDs and averaged 135.7 yards per game. The Redbirds bottled up Williams limiting him to 29 rushing yards on 13 carries.
Leahy had an 8-yard TD run with 5:19 left in the first quarter to give the Redbirds a 19-0 lead. Johnson had a key interception late in the first quarter. One play later, Leahy rammed in for a 13-yard TD run to extend the Redbirds' lead to 25-0. Disaster struck Racine Lutheran again as they fumbled and Darlington's Logan Muhlstein recovered at the Crusaders' 39-yard line. One play later, Leahy rumbled for a 35-yard TD run to give the Redbirds a 32-0 lead.
McDonald completed 3 of 3 passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns. He connected with Singer on an 18-yard TD pass to start the second quarter. He then hooked up with Leahy for a 13-yard TD pass.
Leahy had an interception in the second quarter. Two plays later, he scored on a 15-yard run to give the Redbirds a 53-0 lead.
"He is very calm back there," Zywicki said of McDonald at quarterback. "He has made great decisions for us. He has added a dimension to our passing attack."
Darlington backup quarterback Jared Meister was 4 of 9 passing for 100 yards with two touchdowns including a 15-yard TD pass to Brayden McDonald and a 48-yard TD strike to Kameron Blosch.
The Redbirds will now gear up to play Mineral Point with the state's fourth leading passer in Scott Pittz who has passed for 2,523 yards this season. It will be a homecoming of sorts for Mineral Point coach Andy Palzkill who was the offensive coordinator in Darlington before taking the head coaching position for the Pointers.
"They will throw the ball a lot," Zywicki said. "There is no doubt about that. We have a size advantage in the trenches. Andy is smart enough not to put a square peg in a round hole."
