BELLEVILLE — Following a 20-point fourth quarter in last week’s 23-7 comeback victory, Darlington came out with its foot on the gas against Belleville. The Redbirds scored 30 points in the second quarter en route to a 58-0 shutout of the Wildcats on Friday, Oct. 6. 

With the win, Darlington earned at least a share of its third straight SWAL title. To earn the title outright, the Redbirds (6-0) need to defeat Fennimore (1-5) in the regular-season finale or hope that Cuba City (4-2) beats Mineral Point (5-1).

“In Darlington, sometimes people want to take that stuff for granted, but it means a ton for our kids because they put a ton of work in,” Darlington head coach Travis Winkers said. “You love it when that work comes with a championship, so they see their work pay off.”

Darlington’s defense was tested early, though, as Belleville covered an onside kick at midfield. The Wildcats earned just five yards, as a tackle for loss by Maddox Goebel and Ross Crist set up a fourth-and-5. 

Connor Larson returned the ensuing punt to Darlington’s 45-yard line, where the Redbirds started their opening drive. After a Reagan Jackson rushing first down, Darlington faced fourth-and-6 at Belleville’s 39-yard line. A pass to Tye Crist moved the chains, and six plays later Jackson completed the drive with a 5-yard rushing TD. Yasser Andino-Andino kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead with just over five minutes left in the first quarter.

Once again, Darlington attempted an onside kick that was covered near midfield. Despite optimal field position, Belleville went 3-and-out. 

“We think we have the best defense every time we step on the field,” Winkers said of back-to-back onside kick attempts. “We thought we saw a weakness on that, but they caught both of them.”

On their second drive, the Redbirds faced another fourth-down situation. Just as he did on the opening series, quarterback Breylin Goebel connected with Tye Crist to move the chains. A first-down run by Jackson brought Darlington to the edge of the red zone, where it took Breylin Goebel two carries to score. With Andino-Andino’s extra point, the Redbirds took a 14-0 lead with seconds left in the first quarter.

While the Redbirds had a two-score lead after the first frame, they added on with a 30-point second quarter. Belleville did little to help its own offensive efforts with two interceptions, a fumble and turnover on downs.

Facing a third-and-10 at Belleville’s 35-yard line, Wildcat quarterback Sam Arndt’s pass fell into Breylin Goebel’s hands. Two plays later, Maddox Goebel finished the drive with an 8-yard rushing TD to put Darlington up 21-0.

Offensive woes continued for Belleville, as Ross Crist forced a fumble at the Wildcat 3-yard line. Despite a false-start penalty on the Redbirds pushing them five yards back, Tye Crist found the end zone on an 8-yard run. Although the extra point was unsuccessful, Darlington still had a 27-0 lead.

Following a series of tackles for losses on the defensive end, Darlington received the ball again at Belleville’s 37-yard line thanks to a favorable bounce. On three carries, Breylin Goebel brought the ball down to the 1-yard line thanks to a block from Maddox Goebel. As a reward for his block, Maddox Goebel finished off the drive with a rushing TD for a 34-0 lead.

The Wildcats came up empty on the following drive, turning the ball over on downs at their own 35-yard line. After first-down rushes from Maddox Goebel and Jackson, Larson finished the drive with a 3-yard TD and 41-0 lead.

Darlington attempted another onside kick on the following kick off, but Arndt covered the ball at Belleville’s 37-yard line. After an incomplete pass intended for Casey Hagen, Logan Derke ran 14 yards for a first down — the Wildcats’ second first down of the game. Derke carried the ball again but was brought down three yards shy of the line of scrimmage by Jackson. On the next play, Jackson intercepted Arndt’s pass and ran it back to Belleville’s 36-yard line. 

Two plays later, with just 5.1 seconds left in the half, the Redbirds set up for a 37-yard field goal. Denilo Ramos-Godoy converted, capping a 30-point second quarter.

“We’ve had a rough past two weeks, so we stressed going out there and playing with intensity,” senior running back Tye Crist said. “We started right off the bat with that the whole first half. Denilo made an amazing field goal to end the [second] quarter.”

With a running clock and 44-point lead, Winkers played his second string the entire second half.

Following a QB keeper from freshman Zeke Zuberbuhler, Calum Crist ran for back-to-back-to-back first downs. Zuberbuhler’s first down, the fourth straight, brought the Redbirds down to the Wildcats’ 14-yard line. Inside the 10-yard line with Darlington poised to score, Treyton Myers forced a fumble and recovered at the 7-yard line. The young Redbird defense kept the Wildcats pinned inside the 10, though, with sacks by Calum Crist and Taggart Gille. 

On its first drive of the fourth quarter, Darlington’s second string finished what it started in the third with an 8-yard TD run for Zuberbuhler. 

“It was pretty fun, getting to play with some of my friends,” Zuberbuhler said. “There’s adrenaline right when you get in. It’s a lot different than JV — there’s added intensity.”

Belleville had its greatest scoring opportunity following a return by Cooper Nemec. The Wildcats started their drive at Darlington’s 29-yard line, but tackles for loss by Gille and Porter Paisley forced a turnover on downs.

Despite starting at Belleville’s 29-yard line, Darlington managed one more score before the end of the game. Larson and Zuberbuhler ran for back-to-back first downs, and on third-and-4, Zuberbuhler completed a pass to Roger Volkening III to move the chains again. With 2:21 left in the game, Zuberbuhler found the end zone again on a 15-yard rush. With the extra point by Ramos-Godoy, the Redbirds took a 58-0 lead, which proved to be the final.

Darlington finished with 422 yards of total offense, 334 of which came on the ground. Seven different backs got carries — Breylin Goebel (11 att, 83 yds, 1 TD), Jackson (8 att, 58 yds, 1 TD), Calum Crist (8 att, 78 yds), Zuberbuhler (6 att, 66 yds, 2 TDs), Maddox Goebel (5 att, 24 yds, 2 TDs), Larson (4 att, 11 yds, 1 TD) and Tye Crist (2 att, 14 yds, 1 TD). At QB, Breylin Goebel and Zuberbuhler went a combined 8-for-11 passing for 88 yards. Their main target was Tye Crist, who had four catches for 53 yards. Defensively, the Redbirds forced two fumbles, caught two interceptions and tallied four sacks. 

Although Darlington earned a share of its third straight conference championship with the win, the Redbirds aren’t satisfied just yet. They aim to take the title outright with a win over Fennimore on Friday, Oct. 13.

“We are coming for it outright,” Tye Crist said. “Fennimore better be ready next week. I hope we can get the scoreboard to look the same.”