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Dodgeville's football team got out of the blocks with a convincing win over Viroqua Friday sticking the Blackhawks 40-20 and giving first year head coach TC Smith his first win.
Garrett Busch scored a pair of rushing touchdowns from his quarterback position and threw two scoring bombs to Dillon Garthwaite. The rest of the scoring came on a broken play that saw a fumble bounce into the hands of Matthew Pittz who roamed for a 63 yard touchdown.
Busch then scored on a run at the :15 mark of the second quarter to pull the Dodgers within a score at halftime 20-16.
Viroqua then went scoreless the second half while the Dodgers broke loose for the win. Busch rolled in from the 24 for the first touchdown then sandwiched two scoring passes to Garthwaite around a safety that opened the final frame.
That sets the stage for a second non-conference outing tonight when they host Mineral Point.
Smith was pleased with the second half comeback and the way the Dodgers responded to the challenge.
"The kids did an amazing job fighting back early to get back into the game," said Smith. "The energy was a little lacking in the first quarter but I was very proud of their energy in the second half. The first game of the year can determine a lot about the season. Hopefully we can carry that momentum and energy throughout the year. It gives them a huge sense of confidence in themselves."
Smith was glad to see the passing game catch fire late in the first half and continue through the end of the game.
"The passing game late in the second quarter and the second half was on point," a happy Smith commented. "The line did an excellent job giving Garrett time and letting him do his thing. He did an excellent job making the correct reads and doing everything he possibly could to make plays. The original plan was to actually run inside and they did a very good job shutting that down. The adjustments at halftime is all credit to the team and my staff switching that up and getting the ball into our playmakers hands."
There was also some strong defense played by the Dodgers.
"Garrett Busch stepped up big time on defense coming up and filling on the run," started Smith. "Grant Roh did a great job as well getting physical and our linebackers did a great job in the second half gang tackling and holding their own."
He said there were other moments that turned up big ones for the Dodgers.
"Brady Jabs (sophomore quarterback) made really some very big plays for us in situations that might not be realized," Smith said. "Saving the kick off return from going for a touchdown going into halftime and then stepping up and delivering a nice pass across the middle in the third quarter to keep a drive alive leading to a touchdown for us on his first play in when Garrett went down with a cramp. Those are the types of plays that we need everyone to step up and make that help win football games."
Now the Dodgers are looking at tonight when they host the Pointers.
I'm expecting Mineral Point to get the ball into Dominick McVay's hands and let him do his thing," Smith said. "He is a strong and fast football player all around and I'm hoping we can limit him and make them use their other athletes to beat us."