September 3, 2015 at 9:56 a.m.
Late score gives nod to Pointers
It was a gutty kind of call, putting the ball in the air during four quarters of steady rain but when Pointer quarterback nailed Dane Pfaff for the conversion it ended up to be the right call.
The conversion followed a Scott Pittz two yard plunge to cut the Dodgeville lead to 13-12.
Then Pittz and Pfaff collaborated on the game winner.
It was a frustrating night for both teams as their offenses were limited by the rain.
The Dodgers got untracked first and scored in the second quarter when senior signal caller Jordan Larson tossed the ball to Josh Shelper that went for a 62 yard scoring play.
The Pointers scored in the third frame to tie the game when Steven Blume took the kick-off 75 yards to paydirt.
"Steven is an explosive weapon and he did a nice job of being patient while his blocking set up for the return," said Pointer coach Andy Palzkill.
The Dodgers got the lead back in the fourth quarter when Brady Wetter bulled his way in from the 15 and Jordan Olson kicked the conversion.
But the Pointers changed that with 3:48 left.
Both teams kept the ball on the ground most of the wet night. Pittz ran 22 times for 93 yards and Lucas Sanchez added 58 on 17 carries for the Pointers.
Wetter had 26 carries for 152 yards for Dodgeville.
Both teams passed 13 times and completed six. Pittz passed for 60 yards with Blume getting 23 of them on a pair of catches.
Larson threw for 116 and hit Shepler four times for 92 yards.
There were 17 penalties for the night, seven by the Pointers and 10 for Dodgeville.
Palzkill is not sure how much the Pointers got out of the game as the weather limited what they had hoped to do.
"It was a close game but I think the weather really impacted how things played out," Palzkill said. "There are certain plays you can't call on this type of a night. It is rare to have a downpour for an entire game."
"That type of weather forces you to become more conservative and rely on the running game," Palzkill continued. "We were fortunate our special teams scored and then we were able to put together a drive for the winning score."
Palzkill felt the rain neutralized what Pittz is capable of doing most nights.
"In the end we really dug in a found a way to score on the final drive," Palzkill said. "A lot of credit goes to our offensive line and our backs for continuing to battle and we eventually found a way to handle the blitz defense that Dodgeville used all night."
Palzkill felt the offensive line played strong all night and that Pittz had an amazing game at middle linebacker.
"He never left the field," Palzkill said about Pittz. "He made a number of tackles on Wetter."
"Steven Blume did a nice job running the alley and filling in as a safety,"Palzkill said.
The Pointers came away with a lot or respect for Wetter.
"Brady caused us a lot of problems with his physical play on both sides of the ball," Palzkill said. "Defensively he is a load and we had to gang tackle him. One person typically is not going to bring him down."
What wasn't used in this game because of the weather will be developed in this week's practice while the Pointers get ready to host Fennimore.
"They look good on film and are coming off a big win over Richland Center," Palzkill said about the Golden Eagles. "I expect a very good contest with their balanced offense and their good fronts on offense and defense. We need to fix some alignment issues defensively and get our offensive blocking rules in order to be able to win this game."
Dodgeville coach Ryan Bohnsack is getting the Dodgers ready for another non-conference game as they host Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Friday.
"We want to congratulate the Pointers," Bohnsack said. "The two teams were pretty equally matched and they forced us into seven fumbles and 11 penalties for 105 yards."
"On our part it was missed opportunities while the Pointers executed theirs," he added. "We were disappointed we gave up a score on specialteams."
"Defensively we could not have asked more from our team," Bohnsack said. "We know we are going to continue to improve as we have great leadership within our program and the kids are gaining valuable experience."
"We wish coach Palzkill and the Pointers the best of luck as the season continues. They have a strong ball team that should be a huge presence in the SWAL," Bohnsack concluded.
