Pointer Easton Brunett can’t avoid the tackle by Dodger Jaxson Jabs. Photo by Robin Wiegman.
By John Dalton
Dodgers fall to Pointers 28-14 in first football opener for both teams Friday night lights returned for the 2026 football season with a rivalry matchup as Dodgeville visited Mineral Point for the 150th all-time meeting between the two cities. The series began in 1893, and this time the Pointers scored 28 unanswered points on their way to a 28-14 win over the Dodgers at Ron Murphy Field. With Friday’s victory, Mineral Point now leads the series 85-58-7.
On a beautiful night to open the 2026 WIAA football season, the Dodgers started strong on defense, stopping the Pointers’ opening drive and taking over near midfield. Dodgeville then drove to the Mineral Point two-yard line, but a third-down false start moved the Dodgers back five yards. They could not recover, as quarterback Karter McGraw’s touchdown pass was tipped and intercepted in the end zone to end the threat.
“We came out exactly how we wanted to. Our defense got a stop, and then our offense put together a really strong opening drive. We were physical, we were executing, and we had a chance to set the tone early. When you get down near the goal line, you have to finish drives,” Dodger Head Coach Matt Staver said following the game. “The penalty pushed us back, and we weren’t able to recover from it on that possession. Against a good opponent, those are the moments that can swing momentum. That is part of the learning process for us — great teams finish drives and avoid self-inflicted mistakes in critical situations.”
The Pointers broke through in the second quarter. Facing second-and-11 from the Dodgeville 20-yard line, quarterback Liam Carey rolled right and found Memphis Burkhalter open in the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Carey added the extra point to give Mineral Point a 7-0 lead.
After Dodgeville’s next drive stalled, its punt pinned Mineral Point at its own 1-yard line. Three big plays later, the Pointers led 14-0. Carey first connected with Cowan Bishell for 30 yards to get out of trouble. On the next play, Mineral Point went deep to Elliot Kite, who used several moves to turn the catch into an apparent 70-yard touchdown. A penalty after the catch brought the ball back to the Dodgeville 15, but Carey found Kite alone in the right corner of the end zone on the next snap. The extra point made it 14-0 at halftime.
Carey had success through the air going 14 for 21 with 161 yards and two touchdowns. Kite led the Pointers receiving with 5 receptions for 106 yards.
The score remained 14-0 through three quarters, but Mineral Point extended the lead early in the fourth. The Pointers put together a drive capped by Mason Scullion’s short touchdown run, and the extra point made it 21-0 just 15 seconds into the quarter. Scullion led the Pointers on the ground with 44 yards on 8 attempts and the lone touchdown.
Things got worse for Dodgeville on its next possession when Mineral Point’s Sawyer Dannenberg forced a fumble with a hit on Griffin Busch. Kite scooped up the loose ball and returned it untouched 35 yards for a touchdown, stretching the lead to 28-0.
But later in the quarter, good things started to happen for the Dodgers. The Dodgers actually moved the ball well on the ground, but penalties nullified some of those. They rushed for 203 yards. Freshman Finley Olson led the Dodgers with 68 of those yards, and he scored the first Dodger touchdown of the year, a three-yard plunge making it 28-6.
On the Pointers next possession on third and twelve, Carey’s pass was picked off by Dodger Harper Olson and he took the ball back deep into Mineral Point territory, and a few plays later, Finley Olson scored his second touchdown of the game from a couple yards out, and then McGraw found Sawyer Vosberg across the middle for the two-point conversion making what would be the final score, 28-14.
“Over the years this has been a great back and forth rivalry. Two teams separated by about 8 miles right down HWY151. It’s always a great way to start the season with the battle for 151 game with Dodgeville. Dodgeville took us off the schedule for a few years and it’s good to have this back again,” said Mineral Point Head Coach Chad Whitford following the game.
“Obviously, 28-14 is not the result we wanted, especially in a rivalry game against Mineral Point,” said Staver. “But overall, I thought our kids competed hard and showed some real growth from where we were a year ago. We were physical at times, we moved the ball, and defensively we put ourselves in position to get stops. The frustrating part is that we hurt ourselves with penalties and turnovers, and against a good program like Mineral Point, those mistakes are hard to overcome. We are in year two of building our system and our culture, and Friday night showed both the progress we’ve made and the areas we still have to clean up.”
According to Staver, this week’s practice will consist of working on the mental side of the game. “The biggest teaching point is that we have to play cleaner football. Penalties, turnovers, and missed assignments are things that can change a game quickly. The encouraging part is that many of the things that hurt us are correctable. We competed. We showed toughness. We showed that we can move the ball and get stops. Now we have to learn how to finish drives, protect the football, stay disciplined, and respond when adversity hits. Building a winning culture means learning from games like this and coming back better the next week.”
And next week, the Dodgers will host Iowa-Grant in another non-conference game who lost to Fennimore Friday night 26-20. “With Iowa-Grant, we expect a tough, physical football team. They are going to come ready to compete, and we have to match that from the opening kick. Our focus this week will be on us — cleaning up penalties, taking care of the football, improving our execution in the run game, and tightening up our pass defense. We have to have a great week of practice, be coachable, and take a step forward. The goal is to keep building, keep improving, and put us in position to win football games,” said Staver.
The rivalry includes several notable streaks. Mineral Point has won the last nine meetings, though the teams did not play from 2022 to 2024 after Dodgeville removed the game from its schedule. Dodgeville also lost 10 straight games to the Pointers from 1989 to 1998, while the Dodgers’ longest unbeaten run in the series came from 1949 to 1955, when they went 10-0-1.
From 1919 to 1953, Dodgeville and Mineral Point typically met twice each season, except in 1947, when they played once. The teams did not meet from 1901 to 1918. Mineral Point won the first two games in 1893 by scores of 24-10 and 21-0, and Dodgeville earned its first win over the Pointers in 1894, 24-0.
Kick-off Friday against Iowa-Grant is at 7:00 p.m. at the Dodgeville High School.