September 24, 2018 at 8:22 a.m.
Pointers roll over Marshall for non-league win
After 14 points the first quarter and 21 more the second the Pointers led 35-6 and they did not stop there. They added six in the third and 13 more in the fourth.
Marshall scored three times, once in the second and twice in the third. Will Straka took a handoff from Ian Lindsey and carried it four yards for the first Pointer score. The sec- ond tally came on a big pass play that went from Lindsey to Blaise
Watters and spanned 73 yards. Marshall fashioned a score on a touchdown pass to score first in the second quarter but the Pointers more than answered. Lindsey and Brandon Dolphin came up with scoring strikes of 17 and 19 yards then Lindsey kept the ball on a 26 yard run to make it 35-6 at the half. Marshall scored twice to open the third quarter before Lindsey spotted Watters in the clear and they clicked
for 21 yards.
The two Pointer scores in the final
frame came on a three yard spurt by Straka and a fumble return by Uriah Ottoway.
Lindsey was the force driving the offense against the Cardinals. He ran for 84 yards on eight carries and threaded the needle on 15 of 23 passes for 305 yards and four touch- downs.
"Isaac is definitely the catalyst for us on offense," said coach Andy Palzkill. "As the quarterback, he is the young man that everything goes through and his understanding of our offensive concepts helps to put us into good plays. I thought that Isaac did a great job of involving numerous receivers against Marshall. We are fortunate to have a number of offensive threats and we feel confident getting the ball to all of these athletes. We are excited to see our team grow on offense as we continue through the season."
Brandon Dolphin was one of those weapons with a pair of catches for scores. His involvement in the offensive scheme is a plus for the Pointers according to Palzkill.
"Brandon is a very physical pres- ence as a wide receiver," Palzkill said". He blocks extremely well for us and is a definite threat in the passing game. Marshall's coverage really gave our split ends some good
Pointer Mason Dailey goes low and Danny Pittz (27) is coming in high for a tackle on a Marshall ball carrier.
opportunities and both Brandon and Kevin Eisenzimmer had big catches for us. Isaac's job is to identify the coverage and then find the receiver who has the best match-up person- nel-wise and concept-wise. Basically, we are using the weakest part of our opponents coverage to determine where the ball needs to go. We are lucky to have a group of athletes who are talented and who understand what we are trying to do in the passing game."
On the other side of the ball the defense limited the Cardinals, who had a strong runner in Dylan Horsteyer, to 138 yards on 22 car- ries
"It was another great defensive effort!," said Palzkill. "Our line- backers continue to play great foot- ball and those young men are Will Straka, Brandon Dolphin, Uriah Ottoway, and Danny Pittz. We are also getting great play from the defensive line with Mason Hughes and Gabe Sporle playing defensive end as sophomores. We were also
happy with our play at corner from Blaise Watters, Mason Dailey, and Liam Stumpf."
Palzkill said playing the Cardinals and winning was key for the Pointers as they return to play in the SWAL.
"This was an important win in terms of keeping our momentum as a team," Palzkill said "We did see an offense from Marshall that incor- porates midline and a lot of base blocks. This is important because we will see teams in the coming weeks who do the same things. Also, we did a few new wrinkles on offense as we saw a 52 look on defense. Overall, it was a great learning experience for the team."
The Pointers return to conference action to host Iowa-Grant.
"Mineral Point vs Iowa-Grant is a great rivalry," Palzkill said! "We will be very focused on improving this week and are excited to have an opportunity to show that improve- ment this Friday night."
