POTOSI — Senior Cole Crist came through in the clutch for the Darlington football team on Friday night by splitting the uprights for a game-winning 25-yard field goal with :05 seconds remaining to lift Redbirds over the host Potosi/Cassville co-op, 23-20, on Senior Night at Potosi High School.

The Chieftains (3-2 overall) rallied to tie the score at 20 all on a 15-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Levi Groom to classmate Robby Roe with 4:16 to play in the game. However, freshman kicker Roman Friedrick’s point after kick was no good, leaving the score knotted at 20.

The Redbirds (3-1) took possession at their own 25-yard line and marched 66 yards on 14 plays to get down to the P/C 9 with just 12 seconds remaining. Following an incomplete pass on third down, coach Travis Winkers sent the field goal unit onto the field to get the ‘Birds the lead, and Crist came through with his first made field goal of the season that made it 23-20 with five ticks left on the clock.

“I can’t say enough about Cole’s ability to be clutch. He may miss an extra point or two in a game, but he has always come through when it matters most,” Winkers said. “He kicked game winning extra points last year versus Lake Country Lutheran in overtime and Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg in the postseason. This was a little further out and he was still clutch. It’s nice knowing you have a guy who knows he can make big kicks late because he has done it before.”

The hosts tried for their own type of “Music City Miracle” on the ensuing kick, but the Redbirds swarmed their returner as time ran out to seal their second straight victory.

“I’m very proud of the way we persevered through some mental mistakes in the first half to come back and put a drive like that together to win the game. They stepped up when they needed to. That last drive was huge. We took another step up tonight,” Winkers said. 

Darlington scored on the first possession of the night with junior running back Brady Horne covering the final five yards on the ground to cap a four-play, 62-yard scoring trek. Crist’s PAT made it 7-0 ‘Birds just over a minute into the game.

The Chieftains evened the score at 7-7 with 4:27 remaining in the first quarter. Groom hooked up with Roe on a 21-yard TD pass on fourth down, and Friedrick tacked on the PAT to deadlock the score.

The ‘Birds regained the lead midway through the second quarter when Horne bulled in from a yard out for his second score of the night. Horne carried the ball on eight of the 13 plays on the drive and covered 39 of the team’s 66 yards on the journey. Crist’s PAT made it 14-7 Darlington.

The hosts answered right back with a 66-yard scoring drive of their own that ended with a 1-yard TD plunge by senior Tucker Leibfried with 28 seconds to go in the half.

The teams traded turnovers early in the second half before the ‘Birds fought their way back into the lead midway through the third quarter thanks to an 8-yard TD run by senior Cayden Rankin. The extra point kick was blocked, leaving Darlington up by just six at 20-14. 

The ‘Birds finished the night rushing for a season-high 274 yards on 59 carries and added another 107 yards through the air behind an offensive line consisting of seniors Crist, Matt King, James Hartwig and Matt Ruf along with junior Ethan Hendrickson.

“Brady ran hard downhill again. They were giving us the dive and we were making the correct reads. They weren’t going to let us get outside with our athletes, so we just kept taking what we could get,” said Winkers. 

Horne — in his second week replacing injured Easton Evenstad in the backfield — ran 36 times for 216 yards and two TDs. Rankin chipped in with 31 yards on seven totes with a score along with one catch for 39 yards, while senior Carter Lancaster ran five times for 29 yards and added three catches for 48 yards.

Junior quarter Braden Davis completed 6-of-14 passes for 107 yards for the ‘Birds. 

Groom went 10-of-22 passing for 133 yards and two TDs, but he was also picked off four times by the Redbirds’ defense. Lancaster, Ruf, junior Ethan Schuchart and freshman Breylin Goebel each intercepted a pass in the game.

Roe hauled in four passes for 44 yards and two TDs, while junior Ashton Spitzack ran 16 times for 68 yards to lead the Chieftains’ ground attack. P/C finished with 101 yards on 32 carries after averaging around 375 rushing yards per game coming into the night.

“They are a very good team. Roe is a good ball player. He got them going. Spitzack had some nice runs and got away from us for a couple of key third down catches. I’m happy to come out with a win tonight,” Winkers said.

Darlington is scheduled to close the regular season against the Platteville Hillmen (2-4) at PHS on Saturday, Nov. 7. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.