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On paper it appeared the outcome would be a slam dunk.
On the field it was anything but.
River Valley came to Dodgeville for the Homecoming football game with a 5-0 record to take on the 0-5 Dodgers, a team that has had trouble scoring in their non-conference losses.
But instead of having the outcome decided by halftime it took until the last three minutes of the game for the Blackhawks to pull out a 21-17 win.
The Hawks were aided by a late Dodgeville fumble then turned things over to Hunter Schwingle who rolled in from the nine. Kurt Schaller added the conversion for the final total.
"Schwingle lined up as the tailback in the Power I and we were able to create a seam down near the goal line for him to scoot into the end zone," said River Valley coach Tim Eastlick.
Until then the Dodgers were ignoring the steady rain and riding the arm of senior quarterback Jordan Larson to move the football. Larson was good on seven of 14 passes for 64 yards and a first quarter eight yard touchdown toss to Jordan Olson who also kicked the conversion.
"I know that the Dodgers do a nice job in the passing game," Eastlick said. "We made some alignment changes and tried to apply more pressure on their quarterback."
Derek Bodendein answered for the Hawks in the second quarter but Olson bombed a 33 yard field goal to make it 10-6 in Dodgeville's favor at the half.
"Dodgeville played with much better intensity than we did early in the game on both sides of the ball," Eastlick said. "They had a solid game plan and took us out of our game."
Dodgeville senior running back Brady Wetter sprinted 54 yards to start the fourth quarter and give the Dodgers a 17-6 lead. But the Hawks closed the gap fast when quarterback Elijah Alt completed a drive with a three yard keeper to score. They picked up a pair of points on the conversion on a run by Cole Eastlick.
Schwingle then put in the winning score.
The Hawks and Dodgers both battled the weather which limited what both teams could do.
"The weather was a tough for us to mix a solid passing game in with our running game," said Eastlick. "It took several weapons out of the mix."
It took the passing game away for the most part for River Valley as Alt only could complete one of eight. His completion for 19 yards went to tight end Tyler Gruber.
But Alt also was a big contributor to how the Hawks moved the ball with 114 yards on 14 carries. Schwingle added 99 yards on 13 carries while Bodendein picked up 33 on five carries. Eastlick ran twice for 19 yards.
"Alt is a really solid competitor for us," Eastlick said. "He has been only playing offense so late in the game he is pretty fresh which has helped him with some big plays."
The Dodgers relied on Wetter from their ground game for the most part. He rolled over the turf for 118 yards on 20 carries. Zack Weber added 16 on six tries.
Eastlick said the Hawks got some big defensive plays from Jack Hellmann, Schwingle, Cole Eastlick and Hayden Ring.
"They were our leading tacklers," Eastlick said.
The Dodgers were led in tackles by Wetter, Weber and Lance Johnsrud.
The SWC looks like a very tough league after the Hawks/Dodgers game and Prairie du Chien beating one of the conference favorites Platteville.
" The SWC is very balanced with no clear cut top team at this point," Eastlick said. "Most likely there will many games that are close in conference play."
River Valley hosts defending champions Lancaster Friday.
"They are a very solid opponent that has shown good improvement as the season has moved forward," said Eastlick.
Dodgeville coach Ryan Bohnsack was pleased with how the Dodgers approached the game with the conference favorites.
"We couldn't be prouder of how our kids played their hearts out on Friday night," Bohnsack said. "It is difficult to see a group of kids give so much effort and not be able to get the end result they desire...reminds us a lot of the obstacles we face in life sometimes."
Bohnsack feels the performance helped the Dodgers figure out where they are at the start of the SWC season.
"We are going to take a lot away from the game and we credit the River Valley Blackhawks for making a few more plays than we did. They are a quality team with coaching staff that we highly respect."
The Dodgers travel to Prairie du Chien Friday.