NEW GLARUS — The Knights had its Homecoming spoiled in Week 7, as Prairie du Chien went blow-for-blow and upset fifth-ranked New Glarus 36-28 on Friday, Oct. 3.
“We just made some mistakes; some uncharacteristic stuff,” said head coach DJ Schuett. “We didn’t take care of the little things: We didn’t align right, we didn’t fit in our gaps, and when you don’t do that, and you’re playing a physical team, you’re going to get punched in the face.”
New Glarus (6-1, 4-1 SWC) opened up the game with a bang, scoring just the third play from scrimmage with a 58-yard sweep and score by Milo Johnson.
We saw we could take advantage of the edge, get outside and pick up some yards there — and that’s what we did,” Johnson said.
Not to be outdone, the Blackhawks also scored on just three plays, with Cayden Sutter hitting Drake Chesebro on an out-route that ended in a 56-yard touchdown.
While the Knights punted on their next possession, PdC (4-3, 4-1) went 85 yards on just seven plays to go up 14-7 on its second drive. Junior running back Darian Jackson was a workhorse for the Blackhawks on the drive, rushing the ball five times for 72 yards, with his yardage growing seemingly with every carry, taking his last three touches for 12, 19 and 30 yards. In the game, Jackson had 39 carries for 238 yards and three TDs.
New Glarus tied it up with 3:32 left in the second quarter on a 2-yard plunge by Luke Burton, though the Blackhawks got the last laugh before halftime, with Jackson scoring on a 6-yard run with just 14 seconds left. A failed 2-point conversion made it 20-14 at the break.
“I said to them at halftime, that despite making a whole bunch of mistakes, you’re still in the game,” Schuett said. “And we came out after that and we executed.”
New Glarus heeded the call of the coaching staff, and forced a PdC punt to open the third. Not only did the defense come through, the offense went into hurry-up mode, hoping to catch the Blackhawks off guard. The strategic decision worked, as the Knights went 83 yards in just six plays, with Johnson scoring from 52 yards out on another sweep.
“We’ve been practicing that recently the past few weeks. We think it gives us an edge. We have a lot of depth, so we can play a little faster than other teams,” Johnson said.
Prairie du Chien scored again on its next possession, as Sutter plunged forward for the final inch to the goal line on fourth down and just 26 seconds left in the frame.
To make things worse, Four plays into the next possession, New Glarus QB Matt Roth was just a touch late on his deep corner pass to Quinn Marty and PdC’s Mason Hird cut underneath for a leaping INT in the end zone. The Blackhawks later made it 36-21 with just 5:24 remaining in regulation after Jackson’s third TD.
The Knights went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, but were gifted a fumbled snap, and Dylan Colstad was Johnny-on-the-spot with the recovery at the PdC 45. Roth completed an 11-yard pass to Will Pinnow on first down, then found converted tight end Bubba Weeden on the next play. Previously an athletic lineman, Weeden not only made the catch, but broke a tackle and out-sprinted the secondary to take it 44 yards to the house for his first career touchdown.
“It was awesome. I’ve been playing line ever since youth and now that I got moved, I knew I had a job to do, and here I am,” Weeden said.
New Glarus opted to kick deep with 3:21 left and all three timeouts. The defense stepped up and forced a three-and-out of their own. The Knights took over possession at their own 39 with 2:18 to play and one timeout in their pocket. Burton gained just two yards on the first play, but it was the second that ended in disaster. New Glarus was hoping Johnson could turn another toss into a big gain, meanwhile, PdC’s defense was ready for it. Johnson fumbled on the play, and the Blackhawks were able to run out the clock.
“I can’t blame anyone else. I’d love to get the ball back and get to redo that play, but that’s just how it went,” Johnson said.
Roth had 182 yards on 13 of 19 passing. Johnson gained 189 yards and two scores on 15 carries, and Weeden had three catches for 72 yards with a score. Ashlin Mihlbauer led the Knights with 11.5 tackles, including one for a loss. Overall, NG had 428 yards of offense. PdC had 170 passing yards and 285 rushing for 455 total yards of offense.
“They were a tough team, that’s for sure,” Weeden said. “There were a couple of plays where we lacked full effort, and I think honestly that’s what it came down to.”
The loss drops New Glarus into a tie for second place in the conference standings with PdC. River Valley (6-1, 5-0), NG’s next opponent in Week 8, leads the conference.
“This is definitely a tough one. We have got to come back and work hard this week. River Valley is a good team and they haven’t lost in conference yet. We just have got to make sure we stick to our assignments and get the job done,” Weeden said.
