DARLINGTON - After Mineral Point's Tarek Oellerich caught a 41-yard TD pass with 1 minute, 42 seconds left, it looked like Darlington's showdown with the Pointers would go to overtime.
However, Mineral Point coach Andy Palzkill, who was the offensive coordinator at Darlington two years ago, chose to go for a two-point conversion. The two-point conversion pass was incomplete and the Redbirds pulled out a thrilling 21-20 win Friday afternoon.
"I was very surprised," Darlington coach Scott Zywicki said of Palzkill's decision to go for a two-point conversion. "They were doing some good things on offense and I thought he would go for it and send it to overtime. He wanted to win it and call it a day."
The Redbirds (3-2, 3-1 SWAL) had a couple of other golden scoring opportunities that were killed by turnovers. Darlington sophomore quarterback Cole McDonald tossed an interception in the end zone in the second quarter and the Redbirds fumbled at the Pointers' 5-yard line in the fourth quarter.
"That's disconcerting," Zywicki said. "We moved the ball great between the 20s. We got into the red zone and we self destructed. At crucial times we could have put them away and we didn't."
Darlington's Myles Leahy rushed for 150 yards on 24 carries and scored one touchdown. Darlington senior Storm Wiegel rushed for 145 yards on 15 carries. Wiegel caught a 45-yard TD pass with 2:15 left in the fourth quarter. McDonald then hooked up with a two-point conversion pass to Leahy to give the Redbirds the lead.
McDonald completed 3 of 7 passes for 67 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Mineral Point quarterback Nolan Barrette completed 8 of 19 passes for 195 yards and three touchdowns.
"We had some miscommunication and blown assignments that just can't happen," Zywicki said of the secondary in the fourth quarter.
Evans.-Albany 26, Whitewater 6
EVANSVILLE - Evansville-Albany senior running back Michael Johnson rushed for 196 yards and scored two touchdowns to power the Blue Devils to the win.
Evansville-Albany (4-1, 3-0 Rock Valley North) racked up 352 total rushing yards. The Blue Devils control their own destiny with a one-game lead in the conference over East Troy (2-1).
Pec-Argyle 40, Belmont 14
BELMONT - Pecatonica-Argyle senior Jon Hendrickson tossed three touchdown passes to lead the Vikings to another blowout win in the Six Rivers Conference.
Hendrickson was 9-of-12 passing for 196 yards. Pecatonica-Argyle junior Alec Treuthardt rushed for 128 yards and also scored two touchdowns. Wide receiver Nathan Loyd caught three passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns.
With the win, Pecatonica-Argyle improves to 4-1.
Brodhead-Juda 41, Clinton 13
CLINTON - For the second straight week, the Cardinals rolled to a big win.
Brodhead-Juda senior Hunter Colden rushed for 172 yards to power the Cardinals. With the win, Brodhead-Juda improves to 2-3, 2-2 Rock Valley South. Senior Matt Trotter was 6-of-7 passing for 62 yards and one touchdown. The Cardinals rushed for 353 total yards.
However, Mineral Point coach Andy Palzkill, who was the offensive coordinator at Darlington two years ago, chose to go for a two-point conversion. The two-point conversion pass was incomplete and the Redbirds pulled out a thrilling 21-20 win Friday afternoon.
"I was very surprised," Darlington coach Scott Zywicki said of Palzkill's decision to go for a two-point conversion. "They were doing some good things on offense and I thought he would go for it and send it to overtime. He wanted to win it and call it a day."
The Redbirds (3-2, 3-1 SWAL) had a couple of other golden scoring opportunities that were killed by turnovers. Darlington sophomore quarterback Cole McDonald tossed an interception in the end zone in the second quarter and the Redbirds fumbled at the Pointers' 5-yard line in the fourth quarter.
"That's disconcerting," Zywicki said. "We moved the ball great between the 20s. We got into the red zone and we self destructed. At crucial times we could have put them away and we didn't."
Darlington's Myles Leahy rushed for 150 yards on 24 carries and scored one touchdown. Darlington senior Storm Wiegel rushed for 145 yards on 15 carries. Wiegel caught a 45-yard TD pass with 2:15 left in the fourth quarter. McDonald then hooked up with a two-point conversion pass to Leahy to give the Redbirds the lead.
McDonald completed 3 of 7 passes for 67 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Mineral Point quarterback Nolan Barrette completed 8 of 19 passes for 195 yards and three touchdowns.
"We had some miscommunication and blown assignments that just can't happen," Zywicki said of the secondary in the fourth quarter.
Evans.-Albany 26, Whitewater 6
EVANSVILLE - Evansville-Albany senior running back Michael Johnson rushed for 196 yards and scored two touchdowns to power the Blue Devils to the win.
Evansville-Albany (4-1, 3-0 Rock Valley North) racked up 352 total rushing yards. The Blue Devils control their own destiny with a one-game lead in the conference over East Troy (2-1).
Pec-Argyle 40, Belmont 14
BELMONT - Pecatonica-Argyle senior Jon Hendrickson tossed three touchdown passes to lead the Vikings to another blowout win in the Six Rivers Conference.
Hendrickson was 9-of-12 passing for 196 yards. Pecatonica-Argyle junior Alec Treuthardt rushed for 128 yards and also scored two touchdowns. Wide receiver Nathan Loyd caught three passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns.
With the win, Pecatonica-Argyle improves to 4-1.
Brodhead-Juda 41, Clinton 13
CLINTON - For the second straight week, the Cardinals rolled to a big win.
Brodhead-Juda senior Hunter Colden rushed for 172 yards to power the Cardinals. With the win, Brodhead-Juda improves to 2-3, 2-2 Rock Valley South. Senior Matt Trotter was 6-of-7 passing for 62 yards and one touchdown. The Cardinals rushed for 353 total yards.
