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Dodgeville took advantage of size, speed and experience Friday and coasted past Mineral Point 60-14 in a non-conference opener for both teams.
The Dodgers scored in every quarter and rolled up 470 total yards. They used balance in getting to that number with 247 coming from a strong ground game and 223 more through the air.
The Dodger defense held the Pointers to 171 yards, 80 passing and 91 rushing.
The Pointers tried to counter with their spread offense but were undermanned without quarterback Scott Pittz who broke a hand in the scrimmage a week ago. Sy Staver moved over from his wide receiver slot and handled signal calling duties.
Staver scored both Pointer touchdowns. He tied the game in the first quarter with a 78 yard run and Tommy Olson kicked the conversion to make it 7-7. The  Dodgers had scored earlier on a 43 yard pass play--Austin Larson to Cris Francia. Jake Hanson kicked the extra point.
The next time Staver scored was with six seconds left in the first half on a five yard run and Olson kicked the conversion. By this time the Dodgers had 32 points on the board.
Staver completed four passes on the night, three of them to Alec Schmitz for 65 yards. He also ran the ball eight times for 75 yards.
After the game was tied the Dodgers took off and never stopped.
Yeager started it with a 12 yard run and Larson hit Brady Wetter for the conversion to make it 15-7 at the quarter.
Jake Hanson's 21 yard field goal to start the second quarter. Francia struck next with a 70 yard punt return and Hanson kicked the extra point. Larson then nailed Jim McGuire with an 18 yarder to make it 32-7 with 2:45 left in the half.
Staver's late score made it 32-14.
Yeager, who had five carries for 137 yards and three touchdowns, added a pair of scores in the third quarter on runs of 37 and one yard. Wetter scored on a 58 yard run in the frame and Hanson kicked all three conversions to make it 53-14.
Travis Henderson capped the scoring with a three yard run with 8:36 left in the game. Hanson's kick made it the 60-14 final.
Dodgeville coach Ryan Bohnsack felt the Dodgers were well armed heading into the game.
"I think the big thing is we bring back more experience, more size and more speed," Bohnsack said. "And losing their quarterback in the scrimmage limited their weapons, especially with their spread offense."
Bohnsack said Mineral Point's five turnovers also helped the Dodgers.
"The turnovers gave us more opportunities with the football," he said.
Bohnsack said an experienced line helped the successful run/pass combination.
"We have five senior linemen back and that experience helps," he said.
Special teams play was also strong, according to Bohnsack.
"Cris (Francia) had a return for a touchdown and our special teams had a good game," he said.
Penalties are a concern that Bohnsack took away from the game.
"Penalties hurt us,"he said. "We have to adjust that and work on our defensive assignments."
The Dodgers travel to Platteville for the first of two meetings in SWC play Friday. The Hillmen are one of the pre-season favorites.
"Platteville will be tough," Bohnsack said. "We need to prove we can beat the good teams and this is a good opportunity. We need to minimize our mistakes and play well. The team that makes the fewest mistakes should win."
Pointer coach Andy Palzkill was impressed with the Dodgers and their approach to the game.
"I was very impressed with Dodgeville and their physical style of play," Palzkill said. "They played fast and were on our side of the line of scrimmage all night. My hat is off to coach Bohnsack and his staff and wish them luck in the remainder of their season."
"From the Mineral Point perspective, we are still working on learning our base offensive and defensive concepts and techniques. Our fundamentals will continue to be the focus as we move into week number two," Palzkill said.
He said he feels the Pointers have the ability to improve as they prepare for the SWAL season.
"In general, we are very capable of creating big play opportunities," Palzkill said. "We have the athletes to be very balanced with the run and the pass. Our biggest hurdle will be to become comfortable with our offensive concepts. Once we can react without thinking about our technique and assignments, we will be able to play faster which will allow us to be more successful."
It will be better still when the Pointers get back to full strength.
"Injuries are part of the game and I do feel we are fortunate to have athletic players step into take over at some key positions," Palzkill said. "We just need to settle into our new roles at this point in time and then blend back into our normal positions as we get healthy again."
He also knows the Pointers have to up their level of aggressiveness.
"No doubt the physical play of Dodgeville had us on our heels all night," Palzkill said. " From the first play they set the tone that they were going to hit us and they did all night. It was disappointing that we did not respond and play physical as well. That will be a big focus for us this week in practice. "
The Pointers are also working on correcting their mistakes.
"Watching film, all of our mistakes are correctable," Palzkill said. "Our concepts in all three phases of the game are just fine. We need to execute better and things will take care of themselves moving forward."
The Pointers move into their second week of non-conference play and will face Rio.
"We play Rio this week and they are a double tight, double wing type of team," Palzkill said. "They run the vast majority of the time. We will need to raise our level of intensity and be willing to play physical to stop them. It will be a big test for our kids to make that shift and be the team that will play on their side of the ball all night. We are very capable and our focus in practice this week is on improving Mineral Point just as much as preparing for our next opponent."