WAUTOMA — The Brodhead-Juda Cardinals clinched the SWC title with a 52-12 thumping of Wautoma Oct. 8. Prairie Du Chien, Richland Center and River Valley all reside at 4-2 in league play, meaning fifth-ranked Cardinals (8-0, 6-0 SWC) will own the sole conference championship this season.
Brodhead-Juda opened the game with a 41-yard TD pass from Cole Hoesly to Gunner Boegli in the first quarter. It was the second quarter that blew the game open, making the second half simply a formality. The Cardinals scored four times in the second quarter. Gage Boegli had two 5-yard TD runs, while Hoesly hit Brady Malkow for a 28-yard TD. Aidyn Vondra then took off for a 65-yard TD run before the end of the half, making it 34-0 at halftime.
In the second half, Blake Matthys had TD runs of 4 and 28 yards. Vondra added a second TD, this time from 60 yards out. Both of Wautoma’s scores came in the fourth quarter against Cardinal reserves.
Vondra finished with 95 yards rushing, with Gage Boegli gaining 89 yards. He crossed the 1,000-yard mark on the season by five yards. Matthys had 79 yards rushing, with Brady Rosheisen gaining 59 yards.
On defense, the Cardinals picked off Wautoma twice, with Matthys and Marcus McIntyre each snagging interceptions.
In Week 9, Brodhead-Juda is at Prairie du Chien (5-3, 4-2). The Blackhawks have had an up-and-down season, despite the winning record. In two tough games, PDC lost to Richland Center in overtime, but blanked River Valley 21-0 two weeks later. However, New Glarus-Monticello (1-7, 1-5) won a 1-point nail-biter in Week 4, and PDC struggled against undermanned Dodgeville 23-12 in Week 8.
The Blackhawks have been outscored in the first quarter 70-17 this year, but have rallied in the second quarter, 62-27. Offensively, PDC runs twice as much as it passes, gaining 691 yards through the air on 121 passing attempts. On the ground, PDC has gained 1,228 yards on 273 carries.
Maddox Cejka is PDC’s QB, throwing 10 INTs to just 3 TDs. Rhett Koenig is the main weapon on offense, gaining 722 yards rushing on 145 attempts. Ty Wagner is averaging more than 54 yards rushing per game as well. Four different players have more than 10 grabs this season.
Brodhead-Juda, meanwhile, dominates teams immediately, outscoring opponents 87-7 in the first quarter and 191-10 in the first half. Hoesly is a game manager at QB, throwing for 538 yards and nine TDs to just two INTs.
Much of the success on offense comes from the backfield. The Cardinals have gained 2,538 yards on just shy of 300 attempts thus far (8.5 ypc). While Boegli averages more than 125 yards and two scores a game, Rosheisen (537 yards), Matthys (335) and Vondra (291) are more than complimentary pieces. Each averages more than 6.5 yards per carry and have combined for 18 rushing touchdowns themselves.
Darlington 32, Belleville 20
BELLEVILLE — The Redbirds clinched the SWAL championship with a thrilling road win Oct. 8.
The Redbirds took a 6-0 lead with 24 seconds left in the first quarter on a 6-yard QB keeper by Braden Davis. The Wildcats came back with a QB score of their own, as Trevor Syse hit paydirt from three yards out just 5:50 before halftime. Breylin Goebel countered for Darlington, scoring from a yard out with 2:55 left. Davis connected with Goebel with just seven seconds left on the clock for a 12-yard TD pass, putting the Redbirds ahead 20-7 at the break.
Syse made it 20-14 with a 4-yard TD run late in the third, but Darlington received back-to-back TDs in the fourth to put the dagger in the heart of the Wildcats. Brady Horne darted into the end zone from 14 yards out with 10:15 left, and Easton Evenstad plunged in from 4-yards out with 5:41 left. Syse and Demarcus Conner hooked up for a 13-yard TD with 4:54 left, but Darlington was able to close the game out.
Davis was 6 of 11 passing for 56 yards and added another 97 yards on the ground on eight attempts. Goebel led the Redbirds with 126 yards rushing, while Evenstad had 102 and Horne 82. Syse had 165 yards on 10 of 15 passing.
Belleville (6-2) joins Cuba City and Lancaster at 4-2 in the SWAL, tied for second place.
Darlington hosts Lancaster (4-5) in the regular season finale. The Flying Arrows follow the lead of QB Jacob DiVall, who leads the team in passing (686 yards) and rushing (829 yards). Skyler Burkholder is the only other running threat, with 652 yards on 101 carries. Michael Ihm sees the most of balls in the passing game, hauling in 29 catches for 322 yards.
The Redbirds go into the game having outscored opponents 367-114 this season. Darlington has more than 3,200 yards of offense and 49 TDs. Davis has 437 yards passing and another 538 rushing. Evenstad leads the team with 661 yards and 10 TDs on the ground, while Goebel has 621 yards rushing and eight scores. Horne is a yard shy of 500 and has scored 10 times.
River Valley 41, NG-Monticello 6
SPRING GREEN — The Glarner Knights dropped to 1-5 in the SWC with a loss in Week 8. New Glarus-Monticello will host Dodgeville (1-7, 0-6) in Week 9, the season finale for both schools. It will also be the last game the Knights will play in the SWC for now, as they are slated to return to the Capitol Conference next season.
Against River Valley, Max Marty was 14 of 29 passing for 179 yards and an interception. Emery Johnson had a rushing TD. Ethan Friedrich had five catches for 73 yards, while Jack Parman finished the game with five grabs and 53 yards.
Dodgeville’s lone win this season came in Week 1 at Viroqua, which remains winless.
In other area action, Iowa-Grant defeated Parkview-Albany 56-28. Pecatonica-Argyle’s scheduled Argyle Homecoming game against Southwestern turned into a forfeit, as Southwestern canceled the remaining two games of its season. On Oct. 9, Pec-Argyle lost an exhibition to Monroe’s varsity reserve. Pec-Argyle is slated to play Iowa-Grant in Week 9 while Parkview travels to Cuba City.
Black Hawk-Warren received a forfeit victory against Benton-Scales Mound-Shullsburg, which had to cancel the day of the game. BHW received help from Potosi-Cassville, which defeated River Ridge, which was previously unbeaten in the Six Rivers. BHW, River Ridge and Potosi-Cassville are all tied atop the league standings at 5-1.
River Ridge (7-2) has gained about two-third of its yardage via the run, accumulating nearly 2,000 yards this season. The Wildcats are averaging nearly 222 rushing yards and 103 passing yards each week. They have outscored their opponents 251-129 this season, including a 157-65 mark in the first half.
The offense runs through QB Logan Drone, who has 738 passing yards and 728 rushing yards, with a combined 15 TDs to four turnovers. Will Cooley (516, 7.8 ypc) and Owen Hamilton (499, 7.8 ypc) split carries with Drone. Braden Crubel leads the team with 18 catches for 441 yards.
BHW (7-2) is outscoring opponents 230-87 this season, and have 1,898 yards rushing to 409 yards passing. Brayden Bohnsack leads the team with 297 passing yards on just 29 attempts. Lucas Milz is the leading rusher with 846 yards on 111 carries (7.6 ypc), while Landen Mahoney has 735 yards on 71 attempts (10.4 ypc).
