POTOSI — The combination of an incredibly stingy defense, and a high-octane offense, has the Potosi/Cassville varsity football team sitting at 3—1 in the Six Rivers conference, and just one win away from clinching a WIAA playoff berth.
Coach Mark Siegert’s squad improved to 3–1 with last Friday night’s 50–0 victory over visiting Highland, the team’s first shutout of the season.
As impressive as coach Siegert’s offense is with a variety of dangerous weapons, it has been the defense that has been stealing the show so far this season.
In their four games this season, the Potosi/Cassville defense has yet to give up more than 100 yards of total offense to any opponent, and has limited all four of their opponents to just four first downs each.
At the head of that defense is senior linebacker Cyrus Siegert, who has a team-high 61 total tackles, eight for a loss, and four sacks.
“He’s really active, and he puts in a lot of work watching film,” said his coach, and father Mark Siegert. “He’s got it diagnosed before
most plays even start.”
Against the visiting Cardinals last Friday night, Siegert had a team-high 11 tackles with 2.5 sacks, while fellow senior defensive end Jaydon Carbone had eight tackles and 1.5 sacks.
The Potosi/Cassville defense limited Highland to just 59 yards of total offense on 38 offensive plays, 31 yards coming on the ground and 28 through the air.
“Our defense has been really, really impressive,” said coach Siegert. “It makes it fun because you know you can take some chances, and field position is key too. We can maybe role the dice offensively too in some situations.”
The Chieftains, on the other hand, accumulated 573 yards of total offense on 59 plays, an average of 9.7 yards per play.
The Chieftains did most of their damage on the ground, where they rushed for 379 yards and five touchdowns on 43 attempts, using nine different ball carries in the contest.
Leading the ground game was senior Ty Bausch, who on just 11 carries rushed for 153 yards and one TD. Bausch had taken last week off to rest some nagging aches and pains, but responded well in his return to action with a 58-yard TD scamper early in the second quarter.
Adding 94 yards and scoring three touchdowns on a team-high 14 carries was fellow senior Colin Esser, while junior Trevor Pluemer contributed 60 yards and one TD on just four carries.
Esser scored on a five-yard TD run in the first quarter, and followed up with touchdowns of three and 12 yards in the third quarter. Pluemer scored from 45 yards out in the fourth.
Through the air, senior quarterback Will Bierman completed 8-of-16 passing attempts for 194 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Senior Brady Curtis was his top target, as he hauled in three receptions for 127 yards and two TDs. Curtis scored on a 28-yard TD strike and a 73-yard TD pass, both in the second quarter.
Bausch had two receptions for 40 yards, Ben Udelhofen two receptions for 20 yards, and Mason Infield one catch for seven yards.
“I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage all night long,” said coach Siegert. “Our offensive line is starting to gel a little bit more.”
“We did a really nice job of just making plays when plays were there. That was something that we’ve been trying to work on, just taking what people give you rather that just trying to create something that’s not there,” Siegert added.
NEXT: For the next two weeks, coach Siegert’s squad will be playing on Saturday, as they travel to Shullsburg (1–3, 1–3) this week for a 2 p.m. kickoff, then travel to Pecatonica/Argyle (3–1, 2–1) next Saturday, Sept. 22.
Potosi/Cassville 50,
Highland 0
(from Friday, Sept. 7 @ Potosi)
Highland 0 0 0 0 — 0
Potosi/Cassville 6 22 14 8 — 50
First quarter
P/C: Colin Esser 5 run (run failed)
Second quarter
P/C: Ty Bausch 58 (Will Bierman run)
P/C: Brady Curtis 28 pass from Bierman (Bierman pass from Ben Udlhofen)
P/C: Curtis 73 pass from Bierman (pass failed)
Third quarter
P/C: Esser 3 run (Cyrus Siegert kick)
P/C: Esser 12 run (Siegert kick)
Fourth quarter
P/C: Trevor Pluemer 45 run (Kurt Cardey run)
Team statistics
First downs — H 4, P/C 18. Rushing – H 27-31, P/C 43-379. Passing (comp-att-int, yards) — H 3-11-2, 28; P/C 8-16-0, 194. Fumbles-lost – H 2-1, P/C 0-0. Penalties-yards — H 4-26, P/C 8-85.
Individual Leaders
Rushing — H: Drew Hennessey 9-15; P/C: Ty Bausch 11-153, Colin Esser 14-94, Trevor Pluemer 4-60. Passing — H: Spencer Linscheid 3-9-2, 28; P/C: Will Bierman 8-16-0, 194. Receiving — H: Zach Yanna 2-28; P/C: Brady Curtis 3-127, Bausch 2-40, Ben Udelhofen 2-20. Tackles — P/C: Cyrus Siegert 11, Jaydon Carbone 8, Ben Udelhofen 7.
