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A 3-0 start to the season under a young, new head coach means something.
In Dodgeville's case it means the team is a little ahead of schedule and in a great position to start a rough conference run.
The Dodgers open the SWC portion of the season Friday at Richland Center. New head coach Ryan Bohnsack feels the Dodgers are now looking forward to five weeks of dog fights.
The SWC is a five game run that translates into play-off teams needing three wins. So far, the SWC is 11-1 against non-conference opponents with Prairie du Chien the only team losing in preseason play.
"I see a real dogfight," Bohnsack says. "But we are coming into the conference season with a lot of confidence. I think we have a pretty good football team."
When Bohnsack took the job last spring he set a timetable in his mind for progress he would like to see take place.
"We are a little ahead of schedule," Bohnsack said. "The kids have done a good job buying into what we want to do."
"Now we have to go out there and prove we belong," Bohnsack added.
The Dodgers have stayed injury free which is a one of Bohnsack's keys for success. They have also stayed relatively penalty free which means they have not given up the football as often. And, a real plus has been the play of the special teams.
"We only have a couple kids who go both ways so we have a lot of people on the field and a lot on the sidelines cheering them on," Bohnsack said. "And, our special teams have played exceptionally well."
"I expect a good performance Friday," Bohnsack said.
The fact that two teams in the six team league have been putting up big numbers early might have the predictors leaning toward Lancaster and Platteville as potential powers. That leaves Dodgeville, River Valley, Richland Center and Prairie du Chien battling for the three wins.
Bohnsack is not so sure there are established powers for this year's SWC.
"As I said, I expect the SWC to be a real dogfight," he said. And, he expects the Dodgers to be in it.
The last tune-up for the Dodgers was last Friday at Adams-Friendship and it was the type of game the team needed at this stage of the season.
The Dodgers turned back AF 49-13 and used a 21 point second quarter to help put the game out of reach.
"Everyone got to play," Bohnsack said. "We got to look at everyone."
Junior speedster Logan Yeager led the offensive explosion with four touchdowns as he gained 140 yards on 23 carries.
Junior quarterback Austin Larson was eight for 14 passing with a touchdown toss to Nick Crowley.
Crowley, a senior, grabbed five passes for 57 yards.
Senior Josh Fredrich scooped up a punt blocked by senior Brett Binsfeld and sophomore Ryan Raess and chugged it in from the 35.
Junior Jacob Hanson kicked seven extra points.
The Dodgers overcame a long bus ride and a slow start before taking command.
Yeager got the Dodgers on the board with a one yard plunge in the opening quarter and Hanson kicked the conversion.
AF answered with an interception that resulted in a one yard dive for a score.
The second quarter was all Dodgeville. Yeager started it with an 11 yard run. Larson guided the team to the one then snuck over. Fredrich took off with the blocked punt and scored.
The momentum continued after halftime.
Yeager got his third score on a three yard run then Larson hooked up with Crowley for a six yard scoring pass.
Yeager got his final six pointer with a six yard scamper in the fourth frame.
AF added a score on a 73 yard run to finish the night.
"We struggled a little with our offense at the start," Bohnsack said. "We stopped their first drive, got the football then scored," he said. "They scored after an interception."
From then on it was a combination of strong offense and tough defense.
Bohnsack credited the defense with an exceptional performance.
"There was a lot of team tackling and the team did a good job of flying around," Bohnsack said. "They got the job done as a group and are doing great at buying into what we want to see happen."
Bohnsack said the special teams played a role in the win for the third straight game.
Jasper Meeker had a couple key interceptions that stopped AF drives.
"Defensively we shut them down with an excellent performance," Bohnsack said.
"Offensively we got a strong blocking performance from the line, the backs ran hard and there were some very big holes for Yeager to run through that he did a good job of finding."
"We took care of business and I feel we showed them who was the better team."