DARLINGTON — The Redbirds celebrated Homecoming Sept. 24 by honoring the 1970 football team, as well as by watching the current football team eviscerate the Fennimore Eagles 57-7. The win also punched Darlington’s ticket to the WIAA playoffs.
Darlington (5-1, 4-0 SWAL), ranked No. 8 in the state in Division 6 by the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association, ran Fennimore (2-4, 1-3) off the field almost immediately. On the Redbirds’ second play from scrimmage, quarterback Braden Davis kept the ball on an option play and darted 57 yards up the home sideline for a touchdown. It was the first of three touchdown runs by the senior QB.
“He’s a very good runner. We ask a lot of him to do a lot of things. Everyone think a quarterback will do a lot of passing, but a quarterback in our offense is such a big factor — he’s got to be a runner and make good decisions,” Redbirds coach Travis Winkers said.
The Darlington defense stepped up on the ensuing drive, with Brady Horne coming through the line for a sack. Coupled with the lost yardage on a clipping penalty, Fennimore faced 4th-and-25. Darlington’s bullrush on the punt attempt was too much for Cameron Winkers, who was gobbled up by the Redbirds for a loss deep in the backfield.
Three plays later, Darlington capped a 17-yard drive when Easton Evenstad dove into the end zone to make it a two-score game.
“I feel like our work in the weight room prepares us for games like this — we handle our business,” Evenstad said.
A 3-and-out by Fennimore put Darlington right back on offense, but this time back at the Redbird 28. After eight plays, Redbird sophomore Breylin Goebel coughed it up and the Eagles recovered at their own 20. Not to be outdone, the Redbirds forced a fumble of their own on defense, and Darlington sophomore Carter Murray jumped on the pigskin for a turnover at the Fennimore 27. After an incomplete pass, Davis took the second down snap to the house and the Redbirds went ahead 20-0 with just 12 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
“I think it’s awesome that we have weapons like Brady, Braden, Breylin, me — everyone who gets the ball. They are all a threat to score, and I just love that,” Evenstad said. “I just like to make the most of my carries and the touches I get to help the team the most.”
Darlington’s next scoring drive covered 51 yards on seven plays. On third-and-goal from the 6, Davis audibled out of Winkers’ play call, and Horne’s run up the middle went nowhere. Winkers rhetorically asked Davis why he changed the play at the line of scrimmage and demanded the offense run the original play — this time on fourth down.
The coach, as it turned out, made the right call, as Evenstad plunged through the defensive front and across the goal line for the TD. After the game he could reflect with a smile on his face.
“I berated him a bit because I was mad — he shouldn’t have changed it out. If we had run it the first time, it would have been a touchdown. But they are high school kids, and it happens,” Winkers said.
In fact, the entire second quarter was a roller coaster ride for Evenstad. After his second score made it 28-0, he was burned on two pass plays on the next drive while playing defense, missing a pair of open-field tackles of Fennimore’s Austin Horn, which allowed the Eagles gains of 28 and 17 yards, the second of which went for a touchdown to make it 28-7.
Fennimore then recovered a surprise onside kick and immediately went back to Evenstad’s direction, this time drawing a flag for defensive pass interference.
“I felt like I was letting the team down a little bit, but I knew I had to keep my focus and do what’s best for the team,” Evenstad said. The two teams traded timeouts, and when play resumed Fennimore QB Max Kenney had his deep ball tipped, and Evenstad evened up the misfortune by picking off the ball.
While Darlington punted away the ball on the next possession, the Redbird defense stayed stout. On the second snap of the following Eagles possession, Kenney threw another interception, this time to Murray. Two plays later Davis found another seem in the defensive front and dashed 46 yards for a core to make it 36-7 with 2:17 to go before halftime. A quick 3-and-out gave the Redbirds the ball at the 50 with 1:41 to play, which was too much time for the Eagles defense. Evenstad plunged in from three yards out on fourth down with 17 seconds left to make it 44-7 at halftime, ensuring a running clock for the second half.
The Redbirds went with reserves on offense in the second half, and not much difference was made. The second string 16-play, 82-yard scoring drive that included two fourth-down conversions on passes from Cadyn Burbach to Will Murray, the second of which was a 14-yard touchdown.
On Darlington’s next drive, Maddox Goebel sprinted up the far sidelines 31 yards to paydirt, capping the scoring with 4:47 left in regulation.
“We’ve got some pretty good backups. Our JV team is pretty good, and we have some seniors that are backups on varsity — on the O-line and stuff. They would play on a lot of teams, so I am very proud that we could get (the score) up and get them some playing time,” Winkers said.
Davis finished the game with 167 rushing yards on nine carries, and was 3-for-6 passing for 70 yards. Evenstad had 32 yards rushing and three scores on seven carries, plus all three catches on Davis’ passes. Burbach completed 2 of 3 throws for 42 yards and added another 21 yards on the ground. The Redbirds had 430 yards of combined offense while Fennimore had just 157 — including 10 yards rushing on 25 attempts.
“We can’t seem to get that shutout. We allow one long pass or whatever it is, but hey, it’s something to work for,” Winkers said.
Up next for Darlington is without debate the biggest game of the regular season — Cuba City (5-1, 3-1). The Cubans entered Week 6 ranked third, but were knocked off by River Ridge (5-1) in a Six Rivers crossover game. That means Darlington sits alone at the top of the SWAL standings for Week 7, and a potential conference championship is within reach.
“Next week is Cuba, and I think we’ve been mentally prepared for them this whole season,” Evenstad said.
Cuba City has outscored its opponents 192-77 this season. The Cuban’s opponents have a combined overall record of 15-21. Meanwhile, Darlington’s opponents have an overall record of 10-26, and the Redbirds have outscored opponents by a blistering 282-61.
The Cubans have a balanced offense, with 976 passing yards on 98 plays to 839 rushing yards on 154 plays. Darlington has the ability to pass, but opponents simply cannot stop the Redbirds’ rushing attack. Darlington gained 421 yards (70.2 ypg) through the air in six games, while rushing for 1,895 (315 ypg).
The Cubans run their offense through their best player: Beau Kopp. Kopp has completed 67.3% of his passes this fall for nearly 1,000 yards, 13 TDs and five INTs. He also has 150 rushing yards. Chase Barth has 654 yards rushing (7.0 ypc) to lead Cuba City. Carter Olson is the team’s biggest receiving threat, catching nearly half of all of Kopp’s passes (30 catches, 454 yards).
Darlington is more balanced on the ground. Evenstad leads the team with 454 yards rushing (9.9 ypc), while Davis has 350 (8 ypc). Breylin Goebel (323 yards, 8.7 ypc) and Horne (306, 7.8 ypc) have also been home run hitters on the first string. The Redbirds have just three turnovers to 37 offensive touchdowns this season — and two of the three turnovers come from second-string players.
“We’re pretty balanced on offense. You can’t really focus on one guy, and that’s huge,” Winkers said.
Darlington closes out the regular season with two more games from teams in the upper half of the conference: at Belleville (5-1, 3-1) on Oct. 8 and home against Lancaster (3-3, 3-1) Oct. 15.
“(Our players) know what’s coming up. They are going to enjoy this weekend, because it’s homecoming and they should enjoy it, because they are high school kids,” Winkers said.
