PLATTEVILLE — Black Hawk started off the 2018 football season in a flash, scoring three times in the first seven and a half minutes of the game en route to a 56-6 non-conference victory over the Southwestern Wildcats at the annual Six Rivers Conference Jamboree at held UW-Platteville’s Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 18.

Senior running back Colby Argall had a 31-yard run on the Warriors’ second play from scrimmage to set up a 1-yard touchdown by senior Mitchell Quinn just over three minutes into the game, and then Argall followed with TD runs of 63 and 61 yards on the Warriors next two possessions to extend the lead to 22-0 with 4:28 remaining in the first quarter.

Argall was dazzling with the ball in his hands all day, rushing six times for 170 yards and two scores, returning the opening kickoff of the second half 86 yards for another score, and adding 55 yards on three punt returns and 20 yards on one catch to finish with over 300 all-purpose yards. The senior also had a long punt return for a TD called back due to a penalty in the second quarter.

“Colby did really nice job of making people miss in the open field,” said Black Hawk head coach Cory Milz.

Senior Rece Shelton scored from two yards out on the second play of the second quarter and tacked on the two-point conversion to put the Warriors (1-0 overall) ahead 30-0, while Quinn — an all-conference offensive lineman the past two seasons who has converted to running back this year — added a 3-yard TD run in the second quarter and another 3-yard TD run in the third to increase the Warriors’ lead to 50-0.

Cody Blosch got into the scoring act for the Warriors with a 5-yard scamper midway through the fourth quarter.

“I was really happy with our first quarter. In the second quarter, I thought we got tired and the heat got to us, so we had some lulls there,” Milz said. “Overall, I’m pretty happy with what we did in the game. We ran the ball like we wanted to, and I thought we showed some really dynamic plays in the special teams.”

The Wildcats (0-1) struggled to move the ball on the Warriors’ stout defense for much of the game, but they avoided getting shut out late in the game when junior quarterback Breckin Schneider connected with fellow junior Preston Pearce on a 46-yard scoring strike to make the final score 56-6.

The Warriors rolled up 435 yards on total offense in the game with 408 of those yards coming on the ground on 37 carries (11 yards per carry). Quinn ran for 52 yards on eight totes with three scores, while Cayden Milz rushed five times for 73 yards. 

The Wildcats managed just 11 total yards on offense in the first half and did not pick up a first down until their final drive of the half. Southwestern finished the game with just 68 yards of offense — with 63 coming through the air.

“I thought our line dominated the line of scrimmage. I was a little concerned about our pass coverage coming into the game, but I thought we were sound there and our pass rush was very solid,” said Coach Milz.

Cayden Milz led the team with six tackles, including three of the team’s tackles for loss and one of their three sacks. Nick Hull added five tackles with two for a loss and a sack, while Quinn registered four stops and Avery Baumgartner had three tackles with two TFLs and a sack. 

Kyle Lovelace had an interception and Brandon Schiferl recovered a fumble for the Warriors’ D.

Black Hawk opens Six Rivers play on Friday with a showdown at Potosi/Cassville (1-0, 1-0). The Chieftains opened their season with a 52-6 victory over Benton/Scales Mound in Week One.

“Just like last year, our first four weeks are pretty tough,” Milz said. “Potosi/Cassville is everybody’s pre-season favorite with all the skill kids they got back. They’ve got playmakers all over the field. They are a very, very good football team, so we’re anticipating a solid game. It will be a lot of fun.”