MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Sept. 20-27)
SWC FOOTBALL: D4 #5 Platteville 47, D6 #5 Lancaster 46

By Steve Prestegard

Hillmen stop late two-point conversion to turn back Arrows in instant classic

PLATTEVILLE — Platteville closed out its Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium era Friday with one of its most thrilling games against its archrival.

The Hillmen overcame three two-score deficits to beat Lancaster 47–46 on Parents Night and Senior Night in PHS’ final varsity game in Pioneer Stadium, where the Hillmen have played home games since 1972.

After beating three successive ranked Southwest Wisconsin Conference teams, Platteville (5–1, 4–0) became the first SWC team to clinch a playoff berth. The Hillmen are in first place over Lancaster and Brodhead/Juda (both 5–1 and 3–1) with three weeks left in the regular season.

“I have been a part of many big games and exciting games, but I have never been in charge of an amazing/thrilling game like that before,” said Hillmen coach Bryce Arneson. “Knowing that the conference was on the line, a guaranteed playoff spot was on the line, and even a winning season was on the line just made this game that more incredible! 

“I was told by many coaches throughout the game that I needed to calm down because my head was hurting so much from screaming and yelling and trying to make adjustments on the fly. Like I said on the radio after the game, I believe that this is the best football game I have ever been a part of.”

Junior quarterback T.J. Pink completed 24 or 30 passes for 334 yards and four touchdowns. Senior Davyn Edge had 187 receiving yards and four touchdowns, a key two-point conversion run after a lateral, 11 tackles and a key a fourth-quarter forced fumble — which was the only Lancaster drive of the game that didn’t end with a touchdown.

“Davyn played out of his mind and really proved how much he can impact the game on the football field,” said Arneson. “Davyn made so many amazing plays, like scoring the first touchdown right out of the half, to causing the fumble that gave us the ball back, to scoring a touchdown on the next play that got us up, and then taking a pitch from Zach on the two-point [play] and scoring it. 

“Davyn is a special player with special talent and I told him this all last year and to start the year. He knows how much he can positively impact the game and he is showing that on the field. The other thing that I love seeing from not only him, but the whole team, is their engagement with the youth and being great role models to them. They are showing that you can dominate/compete on the field with a fiery attitude and intensity, but you can also be sincere and kind off the field and be able to connect with others outside of football.”

The Hillmen’s efforts overcame Lancaster fullback Peyton Alvarado, who rushed for 185 yards and two touchdowns, and quarterback Nolan Wolf, who threw three touchdown passes — all on fourth down plays — and rushed for a touchdown. 

On a night when each defense got one stop, the Hillmen defense made five two-point conversion stops, the last by senior Riley Donahoe on a Wolf keeper with 1:40 left to clinch the win.

 “I think the biggest thing that we will take away from this game on the defensive side of the ball is that we need to be more disciplined and do our jobs great,” said Arneson. “No matter what adjustments that the coaching staff makes, we need to make sure that we do our job and we do it perfectly. We need to make sure that we get our swagger back on defense like we have had through the [past] four games of the year.”

An 80-yard scoring drive off the opening kickoff and an 11-yard Alvarado touchdown run off a blocked punt put Platteville down 14–0 with 2:48 left in the first quarter. 

Platteville got going on an 11-play 58-yard scoring drive that included a first down on a roughing-the-passer penalty and a 15-yard Edge catch on 3rd-and-8 ended with a Tyler Sasse 16-yard touchdown run 44 seconds into the second quarter.

Lancaster extended its lead to two scores twice, the first on a 33-yard Wolf-to-Quentin Ploessl touchdown pass on 4th-and-8 with 8:29 left in the first half, the second on a 10-yard Wolf touchdown run with 1:01 left in the first half. 

“I think Lancaster scouted us very well and they got us in situations that we weren’t ready for and took advantage of that,” said Arneson. “The defensive staff made so many adjustments throughout the game to try and stop the Arrows from scoring, but none of it was working.”

Each time, though, the Hillmen responded in part by taking advantage of Lancaster penalties. The first response was a nine-play 78-yard drive that included a pass interference penalty and ended with a 2-yard Edge touchdown catch with 6:29 left in the first half. 

With 1:01 left in the half, Pink completed a 15-yard pass to Lucas Ludlum and an 8-yard pass to Sasse, to which was added a 15-yard facemask penalty. A 26-yard pass to Edge set up a Riley Donahoe 4-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 28–21 with 18 seconds left in the first half.

Platteville scored even faster to start the second half, when Edge got behind the entire defense for a 64-yard touchdown catch (which included an impressive stiff arm on the final Lancaster defender) on the first play of the third quarter. A missed 35-yard extra point try after a penalty on the Platteville sideline kept the Arrows in front 28–27.

Lancaster extended the lead to 34–27 on a 13-play, 65-yard drive that ended on a 2-yard Samaj Venson touchdown run on fourth-and-goal. Platteville answered with a nine-play 63-yard drive that included a 24-yard Edge catch and ended with a 9-yard Edge touchdown on 4th-and-6 with 3:29 left in the third. Lancaster extended the lead to 40–33 on an eight-play, 69-yard drive that ended with the second Wolf-to-Ploessl touchdown pass on 4th-and-5 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Momentum switched Platteville’s way for good thereafter. Donahoe’s 6-yard touchdown run with 9:28 left cut the lead to 41–40. On the two-point conversion attempt Pink threw a tight end screen to Zack McClain, who was tied up by a Lancaster defender, but flipped the ball to Edge at the 5-yard line, who ran it in to give Platteville its first lead, 41–40.

Four plays later, Edge leveled Venson forcing a fumble that was recovered by senior Keegan Coffey at the Lancaster 34. On the next play Edge caught his fourth touchdown catch of the night to extend the lead to 47–40 with 7:22 left. The two-point conversion run failed and it remained a seven-point game.

“I think that our offense showed that we can play with anyone and that we may have one of the best quarterbacks in Southwest Wisconsin,” said Arneson. “T.J. was able to hit some very tight windows and made some great reads with the [run/pass option] game on Friday. I don’t want to say it was only him though as Riley and Tyler made an impact on the running game, adding three touchdowns on the ground. I know that many believe that we are a throwing team first, but I will tell you to not sleep on our ground game and be ready for any three of our running backs to make plays out of the backfield. With all of that, we are going to rely on T.J. to make some amazing plays with his arm and get the ball to the great athletes that we have on this team.” 

The Arrows then marched 73 yards in 10 plays, with Wolf finding Taylor Williams for a 21-yard touchdown catch on fourth-and-4 with 1:40 left. But Donahoe tackled Wolf short of the end zone on the two-point attempt, then senior Logan Day recovered the onside kick to seal the final home win at Pioneer Stadium.

“People always asked me how it was playing at the university and now being able to coach on the same field that I played on, and I always said that it was nice but it wasn’t home,” said Arneson. “We had to rent from the university for 51 years and it is awesome to think that the next time we step on a football field for a home football game that it will be at our brand new activity complex. With that being said, how magical is it that we ended the long relationship with the university like that and with so much to play for. Having the sole lead in the conference is awesome, but being able to honor our parents and seniors on Friday and give them a win and a game they will always remember is awesome.”

Platteville, which now leads in the Lancaster series 48–45–2, goes to Richland Center Friday and Poynette Oct. 6 before Homecoming and their first game in the new PHS stadium Oct. 13. Lancaster and Brodhead/Juda (5–1, 3–1) play each other Oct. 13, one week after Brodhead/Juda plays Prairie du Chien (4–2, 2–2).

D4 #5 Platteville 47, D6 #5 Lancaster 46
(from Friday, Sept. 22 @ Prairie du Chien)
Lancaster....14 14  6  12 —  46
Platteville.....0 21 12 14 —  47
First quarter
L: Semaj Venson 5 run (Nolan Wolf run), 4:14
L: Peyton Alvarado 10 run (run failed), 2:48
Second quarter
P: Tyler Sasse 16 run (Sasse kick), 11:16
L: Quintin Ploessl 33 pass from Wolf (Alvarado run), 8:23
P: Davyn Edge 2 pass from T.J. Pink (Sasse kick), 6:29
L: Wolf 9 run (run failed), 1:01
P: Donahoe 4 run (Sasse kick), 0:13
Third quarter
P: Edge 26 pass from Pink (kick blocked), 11:43
L: Venson 3 run (run failed), 4:57
P: Edge 9 pass from Pink (pass failed), 3:29
Fourth quarter
L: Plossel 64 pass from Wolf (run failed), 11:54
P: Donahoe 6 run (Edge lateral from Zach McClain), 9:28
P: Edge 34 pass from Pink (run failed), 7:17
L: Taylor Williams 21 pass from Wolf (run failed), 1:10
Team Statistics
First downs — L 19, P 15. Passing (comp-att-int, yds) — L 7-8-0, 116; P 24-34-0, 334. Rushing — L 60-332, P 17-48. Fumbles–lost — L 2-1, P 0-0. Penalties-yards — L 4-45, P 5-51. 
Individual Leaders
Passing — L: Nolan Wolf 7-8-0, 118; P: T.J. Pink 24-30-0, 334.
Rushing — L: Payton Alvarado 33-184, P: Tyler Sasse 7-45.
Receiving — L: Quintin Plossel 2-57; Semaj Venson 4-36; P: Davyn Edge 9-187, Lucas Ludlum 10-103. 
Tackles — L: not available; P: Seth McClain 14, Davyn Edge 11, Dylan Weigel 10, Riley Donahoe 9, Mason Mandurano 7, Seth Wilson 6, Lucas Ludlum 6.