CUBA CITY — Nothing came easy on Friday night as Darlington (6-1, 5-0 SWAL) bested Cuba City (4-3, 3-2), 23-7, in a match-up that was narrower than the final score led on.

The Redbirds, ranked No. 4 in Division 6, were slow to move the chains on the opening possession, and penalties made things difficult for Darlington early.

On their second set of downs, Breylin Goebel (5-for-10, 81 yds, 1 INT) was hit mid-throw by Henry Kruser. Gavin Vaassen plucked the ball out of the air, and ran 22 yards to the Darlington 11-yard line.

The Redbird defense held firm, allowing just five yards and forcing a turnover on downs.

B. Goebel (17 att, 93 yds)  then got hot with his legs, opening Darlington’s second possession with a 9-yard rush.

Five Cubans met Reagan Jackson (5 att, 9 yds) at the line on second down, forcing a 1-yard loss. On third down, as B. Goebel signaled for Tye Crist to motion in a shotgun formation, the snap hit B. Goebel square in the chest, and Cuba City swarmed the ball to take possession.

Another fumble from the Redbirds set up the first points of the game as the Cubans got the ball on their own 25-yard line.

They started off with a weak side sweep by Andy Loeffelholz (5 att, 3 yds) that netted a 2-yard loss.

Second down saw a scramble from Tyson Richard (8-for-27, 71 yds, 1 int) until he shot the ball out to Evan Muller (1 rec, 11 yds).

Richard had more time to stand in the pocket on third down, and he connected with Chase Marshall (2 rec, 23 yds) for the first down at the 50-yard line.

Richard overshot a 20-yard pass to Caden Brant (2 rec, 4 yds) on the new set of downs before Cuba City’s Wyatt Lisk made magic happen.

The Cubans lined up in a shotgun formation with a four-receiver set, with Lisk and Richard in the backfield.

As the ball was snapped, Darlington rushed seven defenders, doubling up on the strong side of the line.

Cuba City’s front five parted the seas for Lisk to burst through, and over the next 50 yards, only three Redbirds got their hands on Lisk. None of them brought him down.

A successful PAT from the same speedy halfback put the Cubans at a 7-0 advantage.

The Cubans also only allowed a field goal from Darlington over the first three quarters.

“Our defense played very stout, [as did our] special teams,” said Cuba City head coach Guy Kopp. “On offense, we need to capitalize on turnovers. If we could’ve scored on 50% of turnovers, we would’ve won the game.”

The fourth quarter saw an adjusted Redbird squad that finally found the end zone, and their first lead of the game.

Tye Crist (24 att, 114 yds, 1 TD) capped a 41-yard drive with a 3-yard run up the center to put Darlington up 9-7.

Denilo Ramos-Godoy (2-for-3 PATs, 1-for-1 FG) missed wide left on the PAT to keep the Redbirds up by just two points.

Minutes later, and Darlington scored again, as their defense forced a fumble from Tyson Richard (8-for-27, 71 yds) that Talan Crist scooped up and ran 19 yards for the score.

As Talan Crist ran to the sideline, the score clearly had the Redbirds’ head coach, Travis Winkers, fired up as the coach picked his player up to celebrate.

Ramos-Godoy redeemed himself on his second PAT attempt to put a two-score gap between the Redbirds and Cubans, 16-7.

A punt on a quick three-and-out put the ball back into Darlington’s hands on the Cuba City 43-yard line.

Tye Crist saved the first set of downs at fourth-and-3 with a 9-yard rush, and the Redbirds were content to continue running.

He tallied another first down moments later, bringing the ball seven yards to the Cuban 13-yard line.

Another 3-yard push from Crist garnered a timeout from Cuba City.

It did nothing to slow Darlington down, as Maddox Goebel (8 att, 29 yds, 1 TD) scored on a sweep rush to the strong/week side.

Ramos-Godoy scored on the PAT to put the game at 23-7 for the Redbirds with just 2:37 left on the clock.

A turnover on downs from the Cubans put the game on ice, with Darlington taking over with less than two minutes to play.

“We have to play all three phases of the game,” said Kopp. “Credit [the Redbirds’] defense, they made a statement. It’s been a long time since we won the battle up front and lost the game. That should not happen.”