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By halftime the Darlington Redbirds had 48 points on the board and were well on their way to a 54-13 win over Mineral Point in WIAA Division 5 in Saturday's Level 2 play-off game.
The loss ended Mineral Point's season and allowed the Redbirds to advance to Level 3.
Beating Darlington is something very few teams have done in recent years. The Platteville Hillmen tripped Darlington in a non-conference game to start the season while the Redbirds ran the table in the SWAL, winning all their games by healthy margins. They beat the Pointers in a game that decided the SWAL championship and added the elimination game Saturday.
Pointer coach Andy Palzkill saw his team get into the end zone twice in the second half. Tarek Ollerich hauled in a pass from Scotty Pittz that ended up as a 69 yard touchdown and Sy Staver had a pick six that went 50 yards.
Myles Leahy had a 189 yard performance for Darlington and punched in three touchdowns. Quarterback Cole McDonald scored a touchdown himself and threw for another for the Redbirds. Sophomore Hunter Johnson also got into the end zone three times.
It was a tough battle for the Pointers who came away with respect for what the Redbirds bring to the field.
"Overall they have great team size and they play very physical," Palzkill said. "They have good depth at the offensive and defensive line and what sets them apart is their linebackers and running backs have good size and athletic ability. We were unable to block them and they did a great job of putting pressure on our quarterback."
The Redbirds virtually closed down the Pointer run game which led to calling on Pittz to air things out. The Pointers totaled nine yards on the ground with Pittz throwing for 176.
"We knew that we would struggle to run the ball against them so the passing game was our best opportunity to have success offensively," Palzkill said. "We have a great quarterback and about 7 or 8 guys that we feel comfortable with as receivers. That allows us to give Scott the ability to find the best matchup in a cover 0 concept that Darlington was running behind their blitzes. In the end, we did not make enough plays and Scott was unable to step into his throws due to their heavy pass rush."
One of the bright spots for the game was Staver's big play on the interception, one of many he has accomplished for the Pointers this season. One of Palzkill's tasks in the off-season will be finding a replacement for him.
"It is impossible to replace athletes like Sy Staver," Palzkill said. "He has that unique ability to score from anywhere on the field and we did our best to get him to ball in a variety of ways. It has been fun watching Sy progress as a football player. We will no doubt miss his play-making ability. In a coaching career, you only get so many athletes like him and you have to appreciate having players like Sy in your football program."
The Pointers had some goals set for the season and came close to accomplishing them. Palzkill is pleased with the results.
"We made many strides as a football program this year and accomplished our two goals which were to make the play offs and compete for the conference championship," the coach said. "Overall, we are very proud of our football season. I had the pleasure to coach an outstanding group of young men. I will sorely miss our seniors and I appreciate all the hard work and effort they have put into football the past three years that I have been head coach. At the same time, I am excited for the years to come because our program has implemented all the aspects we need to be successful and we have a very good base of underclassmen returning. The future of Mineral Point Football is bright."
Seeing the seniors leave is difficult for Palzkill as they accomplished many positive things.
"It is hard to fully explain what this senior class means to me. It is humbling when a group of young men trusts you as their coach to do the hard work and extra things necessary to become successful," he said. "This group of seniors put in a great deal of time and effort in the weight room. They are primarily all three sport athletes. They possess great character! The class of 2015 will be remembered for their contribution to our football program and for their stellar play during their careers."
Palzkill has an eye on the future which he thinks will be exciting.
"Mineral Point Football is in a great place," Palzkill said. "We have a young and passionate coaching staff that is getting more and more knowledgeable each year. We have established good special teams, offensive, and defensive schemes that we will continue to use each year. Our training program is in place and our athletes have committed to doing that work all year. The biggest step that we have to make is developing an offensive and defensive line capable of competing with the best teams in this area. Once we can establish a running game to go along with our ability to pass and a dominant defensive front we will be in position to go deeper into the playoffs."