DARLINGTON — The Redbirds had their fingertips on a victory in Week 2 — quite literally, actually.
Trailing Prairie du Chien 20-14, Darlington had an untimed down at their hands after a pass interference call. Quarterback Braden Davis took the shotgun snap and shuffled two steps to his right before launching a 20-yard Hail Mary to the end zone. Six-foot-six receiver Cayden Rankin leaped straight up into the air and put two hands on the ball, but a fraction of a second later, PDC’s Matt Rogge collided from behind, jarring the ball loose and straight to the ground.
“We told them that in this situation you have to execute. We got the flag, and then in the last play of the game it hit our receiver right in the hands. It happens,” Darlington coach Travis Winkers said after his team’s Oct. 17 loss at Marten’s Field.
The near catch would have tied the score at 20, and the potential game-winning point was just an extra point away — a short field goal that senior lineman Cole Crist had already connected on twice before in the game.
“It was simple execution. As good as we looked that first week, all of a sudden we just had total brain farts on almost every play we ran — and that’s on coaching, because we weren’t ready,” Winkers said.
How the game got to that point was a wonder in itself. Both teams fought not just each other, but a brutal north-to-south wind all afternoon. The wind didn’t affect the Redbirds initially, however. On the game’s first play from scrimmage, Carter Lancaster took an option pitch outside of the left hash 70 yards for a touchdown.
“I just thought we really executed good on that first play,” Lancaster said. “It was just wide-open right from the start.”
PDC, facing the wind, started its first possession at the 20 after a touchback on the kickoff. A first-play run by Bradyn Saint went for 29 yards, breaking three tackles along the way. While the Darlington defense was able to force a punt on the drive, Saint was giving a preview of what was to come. Meanwhile, the Redbirds would go on to let a few prime opportunities slip through their fingers.
The Blackhawks got the ball back at their own 2-yard-line after a booming 66-yard wind-aided punt from Davis. Darlington nearly capitalized on third-and-4, with PDC quarterback Maddox Cejka fumbling a high snap from center. The Blackhawks’ punt on the next play gained a net of just nine yards, getting downed at the 11.
Easton Evenstad rushed Darlington to the PDC 5 on first down, but the Redbirds were flagged for holding. Davis was promptly sacked on the next snap. Facing a third-and-23, a screen to Evenstad gained 11 yards, only for another holding penalty to push the Redbirds even further away from the end zone with a third-and-39. An incomplete pass and a draw by Evenstad gained zero yards, and the Redbirds turned the ball over at the PDC 40 — 29 yards backwards from where they started.
I was really proud with our defense. In that second half we got a lot of stops. Our offense was having an ‘off’ day, and we needed that from our defense.Carter Lancaster, Darlington senior
The Blackhawks then ran off a 13-play, 60-yard drive that resulted in a 12-yard touchdown pass to Max Amundson with 8:58 left. Now facing the wind in the second quarter, the Redbirds turned the ball over on downs again on their next possession, this time at their own 40. PDC scored 10 plays later on fourth down with a fade pass to Jon Nicholson, putting the Blackhawks ahead 14-7 with just 48 seconds left before halftime.
Facing 80-yards of green, wind gusts at over 35 miles per hour and less than a minute on the clock, the Redbirds needed to find a big play in a hurry — which happened right away as Evenstad darted 17 yards forward on the first snap. On the next play, Davis dashed 22 yards up the field and getting out of bounds at the PDC 41 with 22 seconds left.
All of a sudden, the Redbirds’ offense was showing signs of life again.
Over the next three snaps, Darlington gained just nine yards and the clock was drained to eight seconds. Facing fourth down, Winkers called his final timeout and drew up a make-or-break wheel pass to the wide side of the field. All 11 Redbirds executed their tasks on the snap, and Davis threw a hearty lob into the wind deep enough for Evenstad to make the grab in stride and beat the safety to the pylon.
“It was huge going into the half to give us some type of momentum. Obviously, we really didn’t carry it over in the second half,” Winkers said.
Crist’s PAT tied it at 14 — the same score Darlington shared with River Valley in Week 1.
“We were in the same situation last game — it was a tie game and we thought we were the better team. But they came out and wanted it more,” Lancaster said.
The Redbirds attempted an onside kick to open the second half, but the ball didn’t travel far enough down field. The defense stepped up, however, and turned the ball over on downs inside their own 9-yard-line. A short punt into the wind gave PDC the ball back at the Redbirds’ 30, but again Darlington’s defense held its ground, getting the ball back on downs at the 19.
“I was really proud with our defense. In that second half we got a lot of stops. Our offense was having an ‘off’ day, and we needed that from our defense,” Lancaster said.
The Redbirds offense wasn’t gaining many yards either, and after the change of directions due to the wind, Davis let another punt fly, getting downed at the 1 this time. On each of the first two Blackhawks plays of the possession, the ball carrier made it out of the end zone by just inches. Had a safety occurred, the final nine minutes of the game could have gone much differently.
Instead, PDC punted out of harms way, and on Darlington’s second play of the ensuing possession, Parker Fitzsimons was stripped of the ball and the Blackhawks recovered. The two teams swapped possessions in a battle for field position, with Darlington getting the ball back at its own 19 with 5:51 left to play.
The Redbirds then gained 11, 4 and 18 yards on the next three snaps, forcing PDC to call a timeout to regroup. On first down just past midfield, Davis squirted forward for 12 yards to put Darlington in business. However, back-to-back rushing plays went for lost yardage. After an incomplete pass to Lancaster on third down, Winkers yelled to his team huddling at the hash, “What was the play call? We had a touchdown and missed it.”
It’s going to be difficult now (to regroup) with a loss, but at the end of the day, we still get to play football. With all the quarantine stuff, if they really love to play, they’ll be ready.Travis Winker, Darlington head coach
Davis punted into the end zone with 3:12 left, and the Redbirds seemingly needed to make one more stop on defense. On the first play of the next drive, Saint barreled forward for another 30-yard gain, shaking off three more tacklers on the stampede. Darlington buckled down, however, and forced a punt from midfield with just 1:14 remaining. On the next snap, Davis passed into triple coverage looking for Lancaster, and PDC’s Aden McCluskey returned it all the way to the Darlington 19 with just 60 seconds remaining.
“We just have to finish the game. We just have to come out better as a team and want to win. I feel like today we went through the motions a little bit too much. We can correct that and we can be better,” Lancaster said.
On third down with 37 seconds left, Cejka hurled a wobbling jump ball toward Nicholson and Evenstad, who was defending. The two collided and the ball popped into the air. PDC’s Chase Fisher grabbed the drill-like tip-ball at the 3 and waltzed into the end zone with 29 ticks left on the clock. The 2-point conversion pass failed.
With two timeouts remaining, Darlington got the ball back at its own 37. Davis scrambled for 16 yards on first down, and Evenstad ran for another 12 yards on the next play, with timeouts spent after each whistle. With the ball at the PDC 35, Davis threw up a prayer to Lancaster in the end zone, but the Darlington senior was brought down early, drawing a flag as time expired. Lancaster was slow to get up and was not able to be out on the field for the game’s final play. Rankin, his replacement, missed much of the game with lower leg injury of his own, and was slow to get up after the final pass, limping a slow walk back to the team huddle at midfield.
“I just wish we could have capitalized toward the end of the game, but we’re going to get better and be prepared for next week’s game,” Lancaster said.
Davis finished 6 of 14 passing for 39 yards with a TD and INT. Evenstad had 97 yards rushing on 19 carries. Saint had 148 yards on the ground in 31 attempts. Cejka was 8 of 15 passing for 91 yards and three scores.
Darlington entered the game without having played in over three weeks. Following the Week 1 win over River Valley, Darlington had games canceled against Dodgeville and Mineral Point — plus replacement Tomah — after positive COVID-19 tests in the district forced the team to miss time.
“I think (COVID-19) might have been a little bit of a factor, but at the end of the day, we’ve been running these plays and schemes for three years. Stuff hasn’t changed on what we run,” Winkers said.
Only two games are left on the schedule with three weeks left in the regular season. The Redbirds are supposed to travel to Lancaster Oct. 23, then Potosi-Cassville Oct. 30, and finally with another away game at Platteville Nov. 7. As with everything else during the COVID-19 pandemic, the schedule can change at any time.
“It’s going to be difficult now (to regroup) with a loss, but at the end of the day, we still get to play football. With all the quarantine stuff, if they really love to play, they’ll be ready,” Winkers said.