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It was a night of firsts for the Mineral Point football team Friday.
Their 42-7 win over Fennimore was the first SWAL win of the season for the Pointers in their conference opener.
And, it was the first time in coach Tom Steger's 11 seasons the Pointers have beaten the Golden Eagles on their field.
The Pointers hung 14 points on the Eagles in the first quarter and never looked back while adding seven in the second frame and 21 in the third. The Pointers scored all their points and picked up all 304 of their yards on the ground.
Brady Tibbits opened the scoring for the Pointers with a three yard run five minutes and 17 seconds into the game. Travis Steffes then kicked the first of his six conversions.
Tibbits struck again with 1:13 left in the frame with a 17 yard run.
Less than two minutes into the second quarter Dakota Poad reeled off a 19 yard scamper to the endzone.
At 10:33 of the third quarter John Schmitz earned his first varsity touchdown on a four yard run. A Steffes blocked punt return made it 35-0 at 9:32. With six minutes left in the frame, Jacob Heimsoth got his first varsity six points on a 57 yard gallop.
The Eagles scored their lone touchdown on a four yard pass with seven minutes left in the game.
Tibbits was the leading ball carrier for the Pointers with 119 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns.
While the offense was clicking the defense was likewise, holding the Eagles to a minus one ground game.
"The Pointer defense did a much better job this week of attacking,"Steger said. "We swarmed to the ball much better than in the past two games, and tackled better when we got to the carrier. Our defensive line of Andrew James, Brian Steffes, and Travis Steffes did a nice job of displacing the line of scrimmage into Fennimore's backfield, which created space for our linebackers and others to fly to the ball. Overall, just a better effort than we have seen to this point."
Offensively the Pointers received help from many of their backs.
"We had great contributions from all of our ball carriers, and averaged almost 10 yards per carry for the game. There were big runs from Brady Tibbits, John Schmitz, Dakota Poad, and Jacob Heimsoth," said Steger. "The line did a great job of walling off the defense, and created nice running lanes for our backs to run through."
The success of the running game dictated that the Pointers stay in it for the game.
"It is hard to go away from plays that are averaging 10 yards per pop. The moisture made the ball a little slick, and the first passing attempt was picked off in our own territory, so the throwing game was basically shelved except for a couple of passes right before half," Steger said.
Getting out of the blocks early was key for the Pointers, Steger feels
"The fast start really helped," he said. "Fennimore being 0-2 and missing a couple of their better players probably had their confidence shaken a little. The fast start helped to boost our confidence, and you could tell that it took the wind completely out of their sails. Even when we turned the ball over in our end, our defense stepped up big time and actually drove Fennimore backwards on the next four plays. Any chance of the tide turning foiled."
The win at Fennimore eased the taste of some of the past losses on that field, some in play-off situations.
"That was the first time since I have been at Mineral Point that we have beaten Fennimore on their field. Many bitter defeats were more or less wiped away with that convincing win on their field," Steger said.
The Pointers host Riverdale Friday.
"Much improved from the past couple of years, it isn't a fluke that Riverdale sits at 2-1 like us at this point in the season," Steger said. "They have added an option game, along with a strong passing attack which will make them a challenge to defend. They always play hard on defense, so I expect it to be a dogfight on Friday night."