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Mineral Point's football team is different than most teams that know they have play the explosives Darlington Redbirds.
The want to play the Redbirds for one good reason...it means they have advanced to WIAA Division 6 Level 2. And that is where the Pointers want to be.
Now all that has to happen is that the Pointers have to find a way to get past the Redbirds, something that only Platteville has done and that was in the first game of the season when Darlington was a few players short.
Mineral Point coach Andy Palzkill has a plan on what has to happen when the two teams meet at Darlington's Martens Field Saturday at 1 p.m.
"It always takes a team effort to beat good football teams like Darlington." Palzkill said. "We will have to continue to improve in practice this week and do our best to use our strengths against their offensive and defensive schemes. We are looking forward to the opportunity to play in a level 2 playoff game against a great football program."
Steven Blume and Turner Poad both scored twice in Mineral Point's 28-7 in win over Deerfield in their Level 1 opener Friday. Both put up touchdowns in the first quarter, Blume on a 59 yard pass from Scotty Pittz with two minutes gone in the game and Poad on a 29 yard run at 8:46. Sy Staver ran in a conversion.
Blume scored again in the second quarter at 9:57 on a 58 yard pass play from Pittz. Brant James kicked the extra point for a 21-0 halftime lead.
Deerfield's Cole Nickerson scored on a three yard fun at 5:33 of the third quarter and the conversion kick made it 21-7.
The Pointers finished the scoring for the night in the fourth quarter on a three yard run by Poad and a James kick with 5:30 left made it 28-7.
Deerfield had 155 rushing yards on 49 attempts and was 9 for 17 for 142 yards passing.
The Pointers were 19 for 29 rushing and Pittz was 9 for 14 for 226 passing.
Blume was the leading receiver with three catches for 147 yards. But there was more to the passing game than just one receiver.
"Jordan Kittleson and Turner Poad also had good receptions for us," Palzkill said. "It was a strange night for us because we just did not have many plays and we scored on big plays. That made it hard to get into a rhythm offensively."
The big plays paid off so well that the Pointers only had to run 33 plays all night.
"It ended up to be a pretty fast game," Palzkill said. "The clock hardly stopped the second half."
It was a break-out game for Blume who, as a junior, has a year left.
"It was great to see Steven have a big night," Palzkill said. "He is an intelligent and hard-working football player and our coaching staff is very confident in his ability. As teams continue to pay close attention to Tarek Oellerich and Sy Staver, Steven will get opportunities to become our primary target depending on how opponents defend us. He is also having a great year as a corner. We look forward to more great things from Steven on both sides of the ball."
Poad was the other scoring threat for the Pointers in the rout with two touchdowns and 35 yards rushing.
"I am always impressed by how hard Turner works for his team," said Palzkill. "He made some very tough runs against Deerfield and he always breaks the first tackle and continues to fight for extra yardage. Turner is a versatile weapon for us and he is a huge part our offense. "
Deerfield put up a battle but could not make up for the big plays.
"They did good job of controlling the ball on offense and we struggled to put together a running game," Palzkill said. "Deerfield is a very physical football team and they really controlled the line of scrimmage against our offensive line. It was important for our football program to earn this win. It is our first playoff since I returned to Mineral Point four years ago."
The Pointers lost a player to injury that will take away one of their big play threats.
"Alec Schmitz (wide receiver) was rolled into while blocking on a running play," Palzkill said. "The good news is that he has a high ankle sprain and will not have a long recovery period. The bad news is that he will miss the rest of the football season most likely. We will miss his big play ability at wide receiver."