DARLINGTON — If there is such a thing as a “perfect game” in football, the Darlington Redbirds executed it in Week 3. Darlington walked off the field with a 56-0 win over the Mineral Point Pointers in their SWAL conference opener on Friday, Sept. 5 at Martens Field in Darlington.
The Redbirds not only got a conference win over the Pointers, but they scored a touchdown on all eight of their possessions, never had to punt, and forced two turnovers while making the Pointers turn the ball over on downs three times and punt twice. With the win, Darlington leads the all-time series between the two teams 94-26-5.
Darlington opened the game with a six-play, 55 yard drive that was capped by junior Calum Crist’s 8-yard touchdown run. Yasser Andino-Andino’s extra point gave the Redbirds a 7-0 lead with 9:24 left in the first quarter. After a interception by senior Cagyn Paisely, Darlington scored on Dante Glendenning’s 8-yard run and the extra point made it 14-0 with 5:36 left in the quarter.
After that, the Pointers got their deepest possession of the game, but turned the ball over on downs at the 9-yard line. The Redbirds responded in the second quarter with an eight-play, 91-yard drive which ended with an 11-yard touchdown pass from junior Zeke Zuberbuhler to sophomore Ryder Fitzsimons. Andino-Andino’s extra point made it 21-0 with 10:09 remaining in the second quarter.
Mineral Point went three-and-out and punted on the next possession. The Redbirds started at the 49-yard line and scored five plays later on Fitzsimons’ 9-yard touchdown run. Dante Glendenning ran for the two-point extra point and Darlington had a 29-0 lead with 10:09 before halftime. The Pointers turned the ball over on downs on the next possession and Darlington began at their own 30-yard line with 1:58 left in the half. Just five plays later, Crist was in the end zone again on Zuberbuhler’s 10-yard touchdown pass and Andino-Andino’s extra point made it a 36-0 halftime lead for the Redbirds.
With a running clock for the rest of the game, Darlington coach Travis Winkers had his reserve players in for the third and fourth quarters. Still, the Redbirds kept scoring. Junior Parker Mosely scored a touchdown on a 19-yard run and Andrino-Andrino tacked on the extra point giving the Redbirds a 43-0 lead with 3:50 left in the third quarter. After an interception by freshman Maximo Xolo, senior Austin Schulte ran in from a yard out on the first play of the fourth quarter and with Andrino-Andrino’s extra point, Darlington led 50-0. The Redbirds scored on the final play of the game on junior David Arguellas’ 8-yard run.
Redbirds coach Travis Winkers came away impressed with the win and was equally pleased with having his reserves play the second half and have success.
“They work just as hard as our starters do. That’s one of the joys of coaching when you have a game when you can do that,” said Winkers.
Darlington (3-0, 1-0) will play Southwestern-East Dubuque at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12 at East Dubuque.
