PLATTEVILLE  9/22– If there are only two statistical categories in which Lancaster football fans need to take away from last Friday night’s Southwest Wisconsin Conference thriller at Platteville, it would have to be these.

In a 47-46 loss to the Hillmen at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium, the Flying Arrows were a perfect 7-of-7 on fourth-down conversions, but were only successful on 2-of-7 two-point conversion attempts.

As one might expect from such a high-scoring game, both teams flexed their muscle on the offensive side of the ball, but showed little resistance when it came to defense.

Each team essentially had eight offensive possessions in Friday night’s contest, with each producing seven touchdowns. Platteville punted once, which was blocked early in the game, while Lancaster lost a fumble to the Hillmen early in the fourth quarter.

The difference in scoring came down to the extra-point conversion attempts, where Lancaster was 2-of-7 with two successful run plays. Platteville was 3-of-4 on extra-point kicks and 1-of-3 on two-point conversion attempts, including an unorthodox pass-lateral combination early in the fourth quarter to take a 41-40 lead.

Unlike previous seasons where the Flying Arrows typically followed touchdowns with extra-point kicks using the “swinging gate” formation, this year’s team is relegated to lining up and going for two pointsfollowing touchdowns. 

In a one-point loss, Friday night’s game only emphasized the importance of having a success rate higher than 28.5% for head coach Jordon Rolland.

“We’re going to change how we do two-point conversion practice and how we do extra-point stuff, trying to make it more realistic and put more of an emphasis on it,” said Rolland after the game.

Even still, despite their difficulties at the goal line, the Arrows had plenty of chances to spoil Platteville’s last-ever contest played at UW-Platteville, before christening their new field at Platteville High School on Oct. 13.

The Arrows opened the contest with a 14-play, 80-yard scoring drive that took nearly eight minutes off the first-quarter clock. 

Senior fullback Peyton Alvarado carried the ball eight times during the drive for 36 yards, while junior halfback Semaj Venson went the final five yards for the score. Junior quarterback Nolan Wolf added the two-point conversion run, giving Lancaster an early 8-0 lead with just 4:14 remaining in the first quarter.

Platteville started their first offensive possession at their own 35-yard line, and following an incomplete pass on first down, a one-yard run on second and a sack on third, were forced to punt from their own 33-yard line.

Busting through the line to block the punt was Lancaster’s Devin Tydrich, while Venson recovered the ball at the Hillmen 10-yard-line. 

It took just one play for Alvarado to add to the lead on a run up the middle, and the missed two-point conversion run left Lancaster with a 14-0 advantage.

From there, the two teams traded blows, each scoring touchdowns on every offensive possession, Lancaster on the ground with long, time-consuming drives, and Platteville with big gains on quick-hitting pass plays.

“Our play calls were definitely called to keep us on the field longer to try and wear down some of their kids a little bit more and to just keep their offense off the field,” said coach Rolland. 

“We knew their offense was going to figure it out eventually. They just have too many options in their offense to not find something that is going to work eventually,” Rolland said of Platteville’s offense.

“We had pressure early on in the first couple of drives, but then we stopped getting pressure. They have a descent offensive line, and clearly they worked some things out, but our kids just stopped doing certain things. Once they got going, we just didn’t have confidence on the defensive side of the ball,” Rolland added.

Following a 33-yard passing score from quarterback Nolan Wolf to Quinton Ploessl, and a touchdown pass by the Hillmen, a nine-yard touchdown run by Nolan Wolf capped off a 12-play scoring drive for the Arrows, leaving just 1:01 on the second-quarter clock. 

It proved to be just enough time for the Hillmen to strike again, completing three straight passes for 65 yards before Riley Donahoe ran it in from four yards out. The extra-point kick by Tyler Sasse pulled the Hillmen to within 28-21 going into halftime.

With Platteville receiving the second-half kick, they began their ensuing possession at their own 36-yard line, and needed just one play for quarterback T.J. Pink to hook up with Davyn Edge on a 64-yard TD strike. Following a personal foul on the Platteville sideline, the extended extra-point kick was blocked by the Arrows, leaving them with a 28-27 lead.

From that point, each team traded blows, scoring two touchdowns each until the Hillmen held a 41-40 lead with 9:28 to play in the contest. They took their lead on a two-point conversion pass from Pink to Zach McClain, who then pitched the ball backward to Edge and ran it in from five yards out.

Trailing the Hillmen for the first time in the game, Lancaster began the ensuing possession at their own 20-yard line. It was in that series that Lancaster lost starting center T.J. Nelson to an injury, and later lost a fumble to the Hillmen at their own 34-yard line.

Striking quick, the Hillmen used one play to convert the only turnover of the game into points, as Pink connected with Edge for his fourth touchdown pass of the game. Though the two-point conversion run failed, the Hillmen held a 47-40 lead with 7:17 to play in the contest.

With plenty of time on their side, Lancaster began their ensuing possession at their own 41-yard line, and used 10 plays to cover the 59 yards, while taking five minutes and three seconds off the clock.

Quarterback Nolan Wolf put his Flying Arrow offense on his back, carrying the ball five times for 28 yards during the final drive, before connecting with sophomore wide receiver Taylor Williams on a 21-yard passing score on fourth-and-three. Trailing the Hillmen 47-46, the Arrows lined up for the two-point conversion attempt, which came up short with 1:40 showing on the clock.

An onside kick was recovered by the Hillmen, and with no timeouts available, the Arrows had no way of stopping the clock.

The Arrows concluded the night with 448 yards of total offense, rushing for 332 yards and throwing for 116. The Hillman finished with 382 yards of total offense, 334 coming through the air and 48 on the ground. The Hillmen were 5-of-7 on third down conversion attempts and 1-of-2 on fourth down.

Alvarado led the Lancaster rushing attack with 184 yards and one touchdown on 33 carries, while Nolan Wolf added 131 yards and one score on 21 rushing attempts, followed by Venson with 17 yards and two TDs on five carries.

Through the air, Wolf was nearly perfect, completing 7-of-8 passing attempts for 116 yards and three touchdowns.

“Nolan played really well. I think he took huge steps in running this offense,” said coach Rolland.“Nolan having huge growth in just getting us in the right play and his decision making was awesome.”

Junior Quinton Ploessl had two receptions for 57 yards, including touchdowns of 33 and 24 yards, while Venson had three receptions for 38 yards and Williams one catch for a 21-yard score.

Of Lancaster’s seven touchdowns, four came on fourth-down conversions, while the Arrows were 5-of-12 on third-down attempts during the contest.

Friday night’s loss to the Hillmen was the first of the season for coach Jordon Rolland’s squad, who fell to 2-1 in SWC play and 5-1 overall. The Hillmen now sit alone atop the league standings with a league mark of 4-0 and an overall record of 5-1.

The Arrows will look to bounce back this Friday night when they host River Valley (1-2, 1-5) on Homecoming night, then follow with a road game at Dodgeville (0-3, 1-5) and a home game against Brodhead/Juda (3-1, 5-1). Remaining on Platteville’s schedule are road games at Richland Center (0-3, 1-5) and Poynette (1-3, 1-5) and a home game against River Valley (1-2, 1-5).