River Valley dominates Wisconsin Dells 42-17

By John Dalton

 On Friday night at River Valley in a non-conference game, the Blackhawks were sharp on both sides of the ball in a convincing victory over the Wisconsin Dells Chieftains 42-17 to move to 1-1 in the young season.  

The Blackhawks rushed for 289 yards on the ground with Kaden Plumley gaining 228 of those yards on 11 attempts and scoring four touchdowns.  In the first quarter, his first score came on a 55-yard TD run.  

In the second quarter, quarterback Lucas Klein called his own number as he scampered for a nine-yard touchdown run.  Owen Jones’ two-point conversion put the Blackhawks up 14-0.  After the Blackhawks intercepted the ball, it was Plumley again getting the ball, this time he ran it 34 yards for a Blackhawk touchdown.  Klein ran it in for the two-point conversion and River Valley was up 22-0 midway through the second quarter.

After last week’s tough loss to Evansville, first year head coach Tyler McClain was pleased with how his squad rebounded.  “I was impressed with how we bounced back. First, coming off from battling a tough opponent in Week 1 against Evansville. We were all disappointed with the result but understood what needed to be corrected to steer ourselves in the direction we wanted to go. Within the Dells game, we took a significant lead to start, then the Dells crawled back. After taking a couple of punches, we decided to throw some back, which in turn helped seal the victory. Seeing that response after a loss into the next week's game makes me pleased and excited for this group,” he said. 

Every time the Dells tried to get back into the game, River Valley had an answer.  In the third quarter, the Dells cut the lead down to 22-9, but Plumley, behind good blocking, ran the ball 22 yards to paydirt, putting the Blackhawks up 28-9.  

The Dells’ Antonio Gomez caught a 7-yard touchdown pass on fourth and goal later in the third quarter from quarterback Lex Reittinger and a two-point conversion by Hendrix Dawson cut the lead down to 28-17.

Again, the Blackhawks answered.  After the kickoff and the first play to start the fourth quarter, Klein passed to Jordan Gauger over the middle, and he raced 79 yards for the touchdown.  

“Offensively, we can all look at the stat sheet and see Kaden Plumley with 4 TDs, Jordan Gauger with over 100 yards receiving, and Lucas Klein scoring both through the air and on the ground. The guys I believe that deserve most of the credit are our offensive line of Kellan Kjos, Drew Riedel, Austin Cartensen, Blake Brickl, and Will Stangl. They all played with grit, discipline, and love the entire game. Also, 3 skilled position guys in Spencer Sackett, Sumner Nachreiner, and Keagan Heiser didn't get the opportunity with the ball in their hands, but they all blocked their butts off the entire game, allowing for good gains to turn into touchdowns. Really proud of those guys and excited to continue to grow with these selfless individuals,” said Coach McClain.

Defensively, the Blackhawk coach was equally pleased.  “Defensively, Jayden Gauger has been a leader vocally and his play on the field. He is starting to get comfortable being back on the field after rehabbing from injury. Our defense has done a nice job forcing turnovers. In that realm, I must mention Quincy Blakley currently sitting with 3 interceptions on the year, with two against the Dells. His confidence continues to grow each time he steps on the field, which is an awesome thing to see as his coach,” he said.  

“Having Kevin Billington as my defensive coordinator makes my life a whole lot easier. He was relentless all week preparing our guys for the Dells. I could start to sense confidence building in our kids when it comes to knowing their role. Once their role is known, they can be fast and free. Our effort as a defense has been there, and now we are starting to see the execution on Friday nights. Proud of the guys, but Coach Billington and the rest of the staff are still looking for this group to keep improving,” said McClain.   

Jayden Gauger led River Valley with 6 tackles, Jordan Gauger had 4.  The Blackhawks totaled 408 offensive yards compared to 293 for the Dells.  The biggest downside of the game for River Valley is they were penalized 13 times for 182 yards, something McClain said the team needs to improve upon moving forward.  

Overall, yes, our discipline and focus on the details improved from week one, which led to a victory for us. We did have a couple of penalties that were called between the whistles, which I know our guys will look to clean up. I am proud of our guys limiting penalties that came after the whistle. 

Next week, River Valley begins conference play in the SWC as they travel to Brodhead/Juda who is 0-2 for the season.  “I expect Brodhead/Juda to be a tough opponent. They have some physical individuals both offensively and defensively; we will have to be prepared to match and surpass that physicality. Our game plan will remain the same, focus on us, and continue to play with intentional discipline with every play, both offensively and defensively,” said McClain.

Kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Friday, September 5th.  For video highlights of the Blackhawks victory over the Chieftains, check out the Dodgeville Chronicle Facebook page.