Viroqua slips past Dodgers to open new gridiron season

Solomon Murdock scored three touchdowns for Viroqua Friday to give the Blackhawks a 21-7 win over Dodgeville in the non-conference season opener for both teams.

Solomon scored on a pass play at 7:49 in the first quarter then tacked on a score at 1:40 in the second quarter for a 13-7 halftime lead. He struck again one more time in the third quarter at the 5:57 mark of the third frame. The two point conversion made it 21-7.

The Dodgers had the game tied at the 8:12 mark of the second frame. That came on a nine yard pass from junior quarterback Nathan Johnson that went into the hands of senior Jack Heimerl.

The Dodgers totaled 187 yards passing and 43 more rushing.  Johnson was 12 for 19 passing with three interceptions.  He also ran for 22 yards on six carries.

Sawyer Garthwaite had the most reception yards with 82 on three catches. Heimerl had 78 yards on four catches and Joey Honerbaum 24 yards on three catches. Braydenn Husom and Aiden Duran also had a catch for two and one yards.

Husom was handed the ball 11 times for 24 yards and Kage Lemanski picked up three yards on two carries.

Honerbaum led in tackles with 12 and Aiden Duran had 11. Isaac Duran added six.

Having the junior Johnson at quarterback after a battle for the spot in camp along with Husom and some new runners in the backfield were new wrinkles for the Dodgers and head coach Jacob Kastenholz felt they passed their first test.

“I thought they responded well,” he said. “They all got some good varsity experience last year with us being so young, so I think that definitely helped them. Some nerves showed here and there but I thought overall they kept their composure.” 

There were a couple Dodgers shaken up on plays and escorted off the field but Kastenholz felt the replacements were ready when called upon.

 “It didn't affect what we did a whole lot.” he said. “We are pretty deep, and in pretty much every spot we feel confident in our next man up to go out and execute our game plan.”

The most exciting phase of the Dodger game came in their passing where Johnson spread the ball among his talented receivers.

“Our receivers showed up and made big plays when it counted.” Kastenholz said. “We know that is going to continue to be a strength of ours moving forward. Those guys are our leaders, and I was pleased with how they competed.”

Sustained drives by the Blackhawks followed their two touchdown lead and played a roll in forcing the Dodger defense to play most of the second half.

“Our defense was on the field too long,” said Kastenholz. “They grinded us away running the ball, but defensively we need to find ways to get tackles for loss and big stops, and put a lid on the big plays.

Kastenholz gave the team a positive message in his post game talk.

“We told the guys after the game that we did a lot of really nice things, and I truly believe that,” Kastenholz said. “Take away the turnovers, and it's a totally different ballgame. It is hard to win any game with five turnovers, and the fact that it was a two score game while losing the turnover battle 5-0 is a testament to where we are at. We will clean up those mental mistakes, but I thought we ran our plays well and executed a lot of things.” 

One of the most pleasant surprizes for the Dodgers was the kicking game handled by Ethan Burke.

“Kicking was a bright spot,” the coach said. “Ethan has worked really hard on that, and it has been paying off. Being able to push them back and not let them start their drive on the 40-50 yard line makes a huge difference.” 

This week the Dodgers host Iowa-Grant for their second non-conference game. The Panthers lost to Fennimore in their opener last week. Kastenholz expects to see the Panthers utilize the airways as their main method of attack.

“I-G will spread it out and throw the ball around,” The Dodgeville coach said.  “Offensively we will look to establish the run a little more. Defensively we need to put a lid on their passing game and force turnovers. The guys are really looking forward to getting back out there.”