DARLINGTON — Fond du Lac area teams beware, Darlington has your number. The boys in black and white proved exactly that during a 35-7 rout of Winnebago Lutheran Academy in a Division 5 Level 2 game on Oct. 30.
“We always play with a lot of passion, but I feel we have ramped it up more since the playoffs have started,” Redbirds head coach Travis Winkers said. “WLA has a really good front seven, including one player who has a full ride to Western Michigan. I felt our box on both offense and defense really won the battle in the trenches.”
No. 1 seeded Darlington (11-0) continued its first half domination of almost every opponent this season as it entered the half on a 28-0 lead. One score — a Zeke Zuberbuhler 63-yard punt return — came in the first quarter, while three more — runs of 8-and-3 yards from Zuberbuhler and Dante Glendenning, respectively, and a 76-yard blast on the ground from Calum Crist — came in the second frame.
“Our punt return team came up huge with a punt return for a touchdown, and then got a blocked punt, too,” Winkers said. “That is the second time we have done that in a game this season.”
The Redbirds’ defense accounted for two additional turnovers — a forced fumble thanks to Tag Goebel, recovered by Peyton Dempsey, alongside an interception by the latter.
It wasn’t until the third frame that Darlington achieved a running clock over the No. 5 seeded Vikings (6-5). The desired result came thanks to a second Glendenning rushing score, this time from two yards out with 5:52 left in the quarter.
WLA finally got on the scoreboard early in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late.
Even in the win, Winkers was finding crucial areas for his squad to make improvements with increasingly difficult opponents on deck.
“We had two possessions where we didn’t score on offense, and felt like we should have,” he said. “Those two missed opportunities can’t happen in future weeks.”
Crist was the rushing king for the Redbirds as he took 11 carries for 149 yards and a single score. Meanwhile, Glendenning’s 57 yards and two scores came on just six carries. Zuberbuhler threw completions on 5-of-9 attempts with 62 yards to his name. Ryder Fitzsimons accounted for three receptions and 20 yards, while Glendenning scooped up the other two for the remaining 42 yards.
Darlington’s final matchup on Martens Field comes in a Level 3 showdown with No. 2 seed Durand-Arkansaw. The Panthers (10-1) put No. 3 seeded Brillion on blast a week prior, 42-14.
Should the Redbirds advance, they’ll face off against the winner of No. 1 seeded Amherst (11-0) against No. 2 seeded Grantsburg (10-1) at a neutral field in Level 4 on Nov. 13 for the right to travel to Camp Randall.
