POTOSI — Potosi and Cassville played their first football game as a co-op team Friday night.
Friday night’s game looked merely like a first game of the season, not a first game of all time.
The Chieftains steamrolled Benton/Scales Mound 56–0, scoring on their first offensive play of each half and dominating the Zephyrs with their road-grading offensive line, featuring four new starters — center Caleb Hauk, former tight end-turned-guard Cy Siegert, 290-pound guard Brandon Kinyon and 280-pound tackle Ben Wheeler — to go with returning tackle Max Udelhoven.
“I was just happy that the kids performed so well,” said coach Mark Siegert. “It was just a really exciting time, and anytime you add that kind of excitement and anticipation, that leaves room for some jitters and things that may go haywire, but none of that happened. “I think the kids were ready and they performed really well.”
New running back Ty Bausch rushed for 232 yards and four touchdowns on just 10 carries. Returning running back Dylan Pluemer added two touchdown runs.
“We had over 500 yards of rushing, so that’s pretty amazing,” said Siegert. “The offensive line was opening up some big holes. The offensive line did a phenomenal job, and we have backs that are able to exploit that.”
The win sets up a showdown for first place in the second week of the season with Black Hawk in South Wayne Friday night. The Blackhawks hammered Owen–Withee 51–14 in the Six Rivers Jamboree at UW–Platteville Saturday afternoon. The Chieftains then will visit another team that won its Six Rivers opener, River Ridge, which beat Shullsburg 31–8 at UW–Platteville Saturday. The Timberwolves will be undefeated in the Six Rivers when Potosi/Cassville visits Sept. 1 since they play nonconference Markesan Friday.
The Zephyrs’ night began with a fake punt on fourth-and-1 at their 38-yard line five plays into the game. A three-yard loss gave the Chieftains the ball on the Benton/Scales Mound 35, and Bausch blew through the Zephyr defense for his first score in just seven seconds.
Kicker Cy Siegert became running back Cy Siegert when the ball was snapped directly to him and he ran in the two-point conversion run.
A three-and-out gave Potosi/Cassville the ball at their 47. Pluemer started with a seven-yard run and ended with a four-yard touchdown run, set up by a 42-yard Bausch run.
Benton/Scales Mound got its first first down on a Chieftain personal foul penalty. The drive stalled when running back Brad Goffinet was able to gain only two yards on fourth-and-4 from the Potosi/Cassville 34.
Quarterback Will Bierman then competed a 34-yard pass to Brady Curtis, setting up the Chieftains at the Zephyrs’ 34. An eight-yard pass to Bausch and a false start penalty later, Bausch ran in his second touchdown of the night from 31 yards out, extending the Chieftains’ lead to 22–0 with 2:11 left in the first quarter.
A fake punt attempt that resulted in a 10-yard loss led to Bausch’s third score of the night from the 5 with 5:03 left until halftime.
A drive that included a 30-yard pass from quarterback Wyatt Bastian to Kaelan Shetler ended with a Curtis interception at the Potosi 10. Bierman then threw a 43-yard pass over the middle to Curtis, setting up score number four for Bausch from 43 yards out, extending the lead to 36–0 with 1:06 left in the first half.
Bausch opened the second half like the first half though nearly twice as long — a 65-yard touchdown run that extended the running-time lead to 42–0 12 seconds into the second half.
Jayden Carbone added a 23-yard touchdown run with 8:20 left in the game, and Ryan Kruser added a 23-yard touchdown run with 52.5 seconds remaining.
Potosi 56,
Benton/Scales Mound 0
(from Friday, Aug. 18 @ Potosi)
Benton/SM 0 0 0 0 — 0
Potosi/Cassville 22 14 6 14 — 56
First quarter
P: Ty Bausch 35 run (Cy Siegert run)
P: Dylan Pluemer 4 run (Siegert kick)
P: Bausch 31 run (Siegert kick)
Second quarter
P: Bausch 5 run (Siegert kick)
P: Pluemer 57 run (Siegert kick)
Third quarter
P: Bausch 65 run (kick failed)
Fourth quarter
P: Jayden Carbone 22 run (Brandon Klein run)
P: Ryan Kruser 30 run (run failed)
Team Statistics
First downs — B/SM 3, P/C 16. Rushing — B/SM n/a, P/C 35-507. Passing (comp-att-int, yards) — B/SM n/a, P/C 6-8-0, 87. Fumbles-lost — B/SM n/a, P/C 0-0. Penalties-yards — B/SM 1-5, P/C 7-60.
Individual leaders
Rushing — B/SM: n/a. P: Ty Bausch 10-232, Jaydon Carbone 8-91, Dylan Pluemer 6-87. Passing — B/SM: n/a. P: Will Bierman 6-8-0, 87. Receiving – B/SM: n/a. P/C: Brady Curtis 2-73.
