Dodgers start fast, Blackhawks finish strong in shootout

There was plenty of offense when River Valley invaded Dodgeville Friday and wen thome with a 56-25 win.

The Dodgers had a early lead but it was River Valley who finished strong with three touchdowns the second half.

The Dodgers got a 48 yard run from junior quarterback Nathan Johnson for their first score at the 9:49 mark of the first quarter.  Not finding an open receiver Johnson held onto the football and skirted the outside to score.  Ethan Burke kicked the conversion.

With 7:50 left in the first frame Johnson found Sawyer Garthwaite open and hit him with a 12 yard strike to score.

River Valley got the next score and cut the lead to 13-8.  Andy Fiske scored from 18 yard out and also ran in the conversion.

Ayden Hill’s score at 11:56 of the second quarter and a pass to tight end Chayse Gilbertson made it 16-13.

Kaden Plumley was next to score for the Hawks.  He got in from the 22 at 9:18 and moved the score to 24-13.

The Dodgers tightened it at 6:55 when Johnson found Joey Honerbaum in the clear and they combined for a 41 yard score to set the difference at 24-19.

Plumley then scored from the 38 at 5:54 and the Hawks worked to a 32-19 lead.  

The Dodges had an answer when Johnson passed to Garthwaite for a score that made it 32-25.

River Valley kicked it up a notch the second half with two touchdowns by Plumley and one by Fiske or the 56-25 finale.

Dodgeville coach Jakob Kastenholz said some adjustments River Valley made took advantage of the speed the Blackhawks have available.

“They were able to really stretch it out and get outside of the box quickly,” Kastenholz said. “They play fast and get downhill fast as well. From the linemen to their backs, their speed was impressive.”

Besides their offensive adjustments the Blackhawks also made some defensive moves that took away the passing game.

“They pulled a couple guys out of the box and went into a three man front,” said Kastenholz. “If the game were different at that point we would have been able to put the ball back on the ground and establish that, but we needed to get points up quickly and didn't have the time to march the ball down the field running it.”

The passing game was the main weapon the Dodgers used against the Hawks so they could take could take advantage of their athleticism.

“We have some great athletes on the perimeter,” Kastenholz said.  “It is definitely a strong point of our game. We still have to be able to establish a run game so teams aren't able to drop an extra guy or two back in coverage like RV did.” 

When the Hawks got their offense rolling the Dodgers tried to stop it with a defensive change.

“We tried to change up our front a little bit to disrupt their pulling guards and we had some success with it, but we were out of steam,” Kastenholz said. “We need to do a better job of staying true to our keys and not worry as much about the action in the backfield.”

To fix that the Dodgers will be looking at improved linebacker play this week.

“Linebacker  play will be a huge focus this week,” Kastenholz said. “Reading keys, following guards, etc are all receiving attention.” 

The Dodgers came away from the game with an appreciation of River Valley’s speed 

“Valley's backs are some of the best in the conference,” Kastenholz said.  “They are going to cause some issues for other teams moving forward. It's still early and we still have some things to work on, and our guys are ready to get back to work. This one stung, but it's on to the next one.” 

The Dodgers will entertain New Glarus this week.

“We will see a lot of the same things offensively as Valley, along with a dangerous passing attack,” Kastenholz said. “If we can learn from last week and clean things up defensively, we will be just fine. “

The ability to put 56 points on the scoreboard did not just happen as River Valley co-head coach Dan Macovec said.

“Coach (Chad) Maxwell spent a ton of time in the off season working on the offense. He attended many clinics to find something new for us. The offense he decided on provides many concepts that are extremely simplified but allow for a lot of variation through motion and alignment. It also created ways for many players to touch the ball. The past few years we have been very one person heavy. The new offense puts a lot of pressure on the defense and our guys have bought in. They share the workload.” 

The Hawks were able to spread the football around and use various offensive sets to find ways to move the football and score.  Macovec felt the Hawks responded well.

“We have a pretty strong group of players that know football and their roles. They truly are a team first group,” Macovec said.  “Andy Fiske returned as a first conference selection last year and we knew the other players could support him to take pressure off keying him. Kaden Plumley and Ayden Hill will get an abundance of touches to help keep defenses honest. Once you start keying on the run game, we have some solid play actions and counters that will hopefully create huge play opportunities.” 

Macovec said the line played a big role in the  success the Hawks enjoyed.

“The offensive line play has been tremendous,” Macovec said. “They are the true stars. They picked up on new blocking schemes fast and play fast. We are hoping they continue to fix situations with blitzing and then we can clean up some of our negative plays.” 

The Dodgers had some early success with their passing game and forced the Blackhawks to make some key adjustments at halftime.

“Dodgeville is a solid team. They are very explosive on offense,” Macovec pointed out. “We came in trying to put as much pressure on them as possible. When I first watched the scouting game I saw the ability to pass, but I didn't realize how strong they were in the passing game. We tried to stick with their receivers one on one and we couldn't keep up. When we did, Johnson did a great job of rolling out and making plays with his feet. Coach Billington made the half time adjustment to widen our defense out to help cut off the shorter routes that Dodgeville was constantly hitting on us. The adjustment helped keep them in check, even though they were still making some plays”

Macovec said a lot a players contributed to the win.

“To be fair, a lot of players stood out,” Macovec said. “I would say the major contributors were the offensive line and the defense as a whole. The offensive linemen are: Blake Brickl, Isaac Ziebarth, Brady Favreau, Brady Bloedow, and Will Stangl. Chayse Gilbertson is a huge contribution to blocking as a tight end. Many different players on the defense stepped up or tried a new spot to help us get pressure on Johnson.” 

Macovec said the Dodgers are an up and coming program.

 “I just see Dodgeville having a successful SWC year this year if they stay healthy,” he said. 

Next up for the Blackhawks will be Brodhead/Juda.

“Brodhead is going to establish the run like they always do,” said Macovec. “They hit a lot of big runs between the offensive tackles against Platteville, but weren't able to put the ball in the endzone. They are talented and try different formations to get an advantage on you.” 

“The defense has a tall task ahead of them on Friday to shut down the run and focus on their wing backs who are threats in the passing game,” added Macovec.. “You think they're coming to block you and next thing you know they're behind you wide open.”