DARLINGTON — The Redbirds entered this thing knowing they had the talent to make a deep run in the postseason — with hopes to capture the school’s first gold ball in 30 years. After pulverizing Melrose-Mindoro in Level 1, Darlington (12-0) took care of business against SWAL rival Fennimore 35-6 in Level 2. Up next for the Redbirds in the WIAA Division 6 playoffs is another in-conference foe, Belleville (7-5).
When it comes time to play, this flock of Redbirds isn’t shy to lay some lumber. In fact, these ’Birds thrive in those circumstances.
“The difference was just the intensity,” Dante Glendenning said. “The defense from the start, we came out, we came hot, we came ready. We knew we’d have to play a good game and we came out and did just that.”
Against Fennimore (8-4) on Friday, Oct. 31, Darlington coach Travis Winkers’ pregame hype speech alluded to the team resembling superheroes, and called them the “Super Marvel Justice League”. On the opening kickoff, the call was answered with the game first big pop of shoulder pads on the far-side tackle.
While the Eagles managed to put together a decent seven-play, 45-yard drive, thanks in part to one 30-yard pickup by Reece Kelley, Darlington’s defense quickly made the hits count.
In the second set of downs, the Redbirds made two tackles for a loss, including on fourth-and-one, with Kelley getting stopped in the backfield, taking a bruising hit from Sloan Glendenning.
“That was a big momentum swing early on. I think that set the tone for them,” Winkers said.
The defense kept up the hitting practically all night. The Eagles finished with 223 total yards of offense, though more than half of which — 114 yards — came against Darlington’s reserves while the mercy rule running clock was in effect in the fourth quarter.
Impressively enough for the Redbirds, more than one-third of Fennimore’s offensive plays from scrimmage went for negative yardage. Darlington tallied 15 tackles for a loss, plus five more sacks.
“I like playing spread teams like this. You get a bigger range of plays as you get to defend and fly around the field and make big hits,” Dante Glendenning said.
Offensively, only two of Darlington’s drives could really be considered missed opportunities. In the first possession, the Redbirds moved the ball 80 yards down the field to the five-yard-line, then suffered their own misfortunes with a tackle behind the line of scrimmage, a pre-snap penalty and a missed 30-yard field goal.
“The first quarter maybe didn’t go as we wanted, but we bounced back in the second quarter and the rest of the game. I’m happy with the way we responded,” Winkers said.
Darlington’s next four drives resulted in touchdowns. It was the sixth drive of the game, leading 28-0 in the third, that a fumble lost possession after just three snaps.
Parker Mosley, filling in for Callum Crist, scored the first touchdown on a 27-yard pitch and run with 9:25 left in the second quarter. Ryder Fitzsimons made it a two score game with a 20-yard TD run on the next possession. Dante Glendenning followed that up with an 11-yard score to make it 21-0 by halftime.
“It was zero-zero again. Anything can happen. We have to come out, be ourselves, play hard, play physical and no turnovers,” Dante Glendenning said of the team’s strategy coming out of halftime.
The Redbirds got right back to work in the third quarter, scoring on just two plays, with Broker Buschor converting a 40-yard fly route for the score off a pass from Zeke Zuberbuhler.
Fennimore’s first drive of the third grabbed a little bit of momentum itself. The Eagles converted on a fourth-and-five from their own 36 thanks to a 20-yard run from QB Dawson Crubel, who followed that up with a 13-yard pass and a seven-yard run. With the ball nearing the red zone, Kelley got the call again, but Dante Glendenning came in hard and knocked the ball free. Darlington freshman linebacker Maximo Xolo then picked up the loose ball and dashed 34 yards up the sideline before getting hit hard out of bounds. The ensuing flag tacked on an extra 15 yards at the end of the play for the Redbirds, putting them in prime position at the Fennimore 32.
Three plays later, Zuberbuhler coughed it up at the Fennimore 20. The Eagles managed to cross midfield once again, but as the period wound down, big hits by Darlington’s defense sparked some new life into the sidelines.
“Big hits are everything to us. We love that. We love the physicality,” Sloan Glendenning said. “All the energy, all the turnovers, that carries over. That’s how we got the lead.”
Fennimore had a first down at the Darlington 27-yard-line, but Crubel was sacked by Brady Jones for a 10-yard loss. The next snap was low, and Crubel conceded another three yards to save the possession. An incomplete pass on the next snap opened the third quarter, setting up a fourth-and-23. Trailing by four touchdowns, Fennimore decided to draw up a play and go for it. Jones and Sloan Glendenning had other ideas, sacking Crubel once again, this time for a nine-yard loss.
Just three minutes later on the game clock, and Dante Glendenning was getting lifted into the air by teammate Gage Ruf in the end zone, celebrating a 14-yard TD and the triggering of the running clock.
Fennimore did get a late score, as backup QB Jackson Sheckler went 4-for-4 passing for 84 yards and connected with Jude Kinney for a 35-yard score against Darlington’s reserves.
Darlington finished the night with 291 yards rushing, plus another 65 passing as Zuberbuhler was a perfect 3-for-3, hitting three different targets. Zuberbuhler’s 88 yards rushing on 14 attempts also led the Redbirds. Glendenning had 85 yards on 11 rushes, Parker Mosley 68 yards on seven totes and Fitzsimons averaged more than 10 yards a carry with 31 yards on just three attempts.
Defensively, Sloan Glendenning had five tackles for a loss and two sacks, Dante Glendenning had 12 total tackles and four for a loss, Jones had two for a loss and two sacks, Gage Ruf, Austin Schutte, and Peyton Dempsey each had a tackle for a loss as well. Ruf also had a sack.
Yasser Andino-Andino was a perfect 5-for-5 on extra point attempts after going just wide left of the upright on the first quarter field goal attempt.
“You’ve got to be able to run the ball in November, or you’re not going to last for very long. We’ll have to pass it a little bit too, and we know that we can,” Winkers said.
Up next for Darlington is Belleville (7-4). The Redbirds soundly beat the Wildcats in Week 9 to claim the SWAL title outright. Three weeks later, the rubber match will be in Darlington.
“It’s the last game of the year at home, and for these seniors, the last game ever at Marten’s Field. And it’s the game to get us to the game before state. I shouldn’t have to do any motivational speeches — that should speak for itself,” Winkers said.
The winner advances to Level 4 — a spot Belleville made a surprise run to a year ago as an eight seed. For Darlington, Level 4 is the expectation, seemingly year after year. The Redbirds have not only made it to Level 4, but advanced to state 13 times over the last 38 season, with four titles.
“We just have got to keep up the energy, and we’ve got to be ready for every team. Every team is different in the playoffs,” Sloan Glendenning said.
The winner of Friday’s game will face the winner of Manitowoc Lutheran (12-0) or Cedar Grove-Belgium (9-4) in Level 4, with a neutral site to be announced.
“We’re a good team, and we know that we’re going to play other good teams this time of year,” Winkers said.
