MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Oct. 7–14)
SIX RIVERS FOOTBALL: Potosi/Cassville 27, Black Hawk/Warriors 22
By A.J. Gates, Herald Independent

Richardson, Chieftains pick off Warriors in Six Rivers clash

POTOSI — Faced with a must-win scenario in order to remain in the race for a conference title, coach Mark Siegert and his Potosi/Cassville football team took care of business Friday night with a 27–22 victory over visiting Black Hawk/Warren.

Senior Drew Richardson’s interception in the final minute deep in PC territory sealed the five-point win.

Black Hawk/Warren (5–3, 4–2 SRC) fell out of Six Rivers title contention with the loss, while the Chieftains (6–2, 5–1) remain in a three-way tie for first place with River Ridge (7–1, 5–1) and Iowa–Grant (6–2, 5–1).

Potosi/Cassville will close out the regular season at Riverdale (4–4), while River Ridge is at Black Hawk/Warren and Iowa–Grant at Wauzeka–Steuben/Seneca (1–6, 1–5)

Against the Warriors last Friday night, the Chieftains had their typical strong showing in the run game, rushing for 269 yards and two touchdowns on 46 carries, but got a significant boost from their passing game, in particularly from Richardson.

After Black Hawk/Warren took a 14–7 lead with 2:36 to play in the first half, Potosi/Cassville marched down the field with a 10-yard pass from quarterback Aaron Edge to senior tight end Ben Infield and a 17-yard reception by running back Hunter White.

Set up at the 13-yard Set up at the 13-yard line with 17 seconds to play in the half, Edge scrambled to his left and threw a pass to the end zone, which seemed to be over the head of his intended receiver.

Richardson, however, leapt above the defenders and pulled down the pass with one hand, while getting a foot inbounds for the score and the extra-point kick by tied the game at 14–14 going into the intermission.

Richardson wasn’t done with his heroics though. On only the second play of the third quarter, he made another acrobatic catch, resulting in a 59-yard touchdown for the Chieftains. Edge’s extra-point kick gave Potosi/Cassville a 21–14 lead, which they carried into the fourth quarter.

Those two scores clearly swung momentum in Potosi/Cassville’s favor, going from a 14–7 deficit to a 21–14 lead in the blink of an eye.

“Those two scores were huge for us,” said Siegert. “That’s exactly why we defer on the opening kick, so we can try and get that two-for-one scenario to end the first half and start the second.”

After each team exchanged fumbles on their next possessions, Black Hawk/Warren put together a promising drive behind the legs of running back Dax Paquin, who carried the ball 10 times for 48 yards before losing another fumble at the PC five-yard line.

The Chieftains then methodically put together a 14-play, 95-yard scoring drive that was capped off by an 11-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Aimslee Tasker, which gave Potosi/Cassville a two-score lead of 27–14 with 9:51 to play in the contest.

Sticking to the ground game and attempting just one pass, Black Hawk/Warren followed with a 15-play, 80-yard scoring drive of their own, but chewed up seven minutes off the fourth-quarter clock in doing so.

After PC senior Dayton Schauff recovered the onside kick, the Chieftains were forced into a three-and-out on three straight running plays, giving the ball back over to the Warriors at the 20-yard line with 1:26 showing on the clock.

The Warriors managed to put themselves in position with a 1st-and-10 at the 46-yard line, but Richardson came up big again for the Chieftains, ending the threat and the game with an interception.

Richardson concluded the contest with two receptions for 78 yards and two touchdowns, to go along with the game-saving interception.

“Drew had a couple of huge catches, including a big acrobatic one in the end zone,” said Siegert. “He’s playing really well, and our passing game is starting to come along too.”

Through the air, Edge completed 5-of-6 passing attempts for 132 yards and two touchdowns.

Hunter White had 21 carries for 121 yards. Tasker wasn’t far behind with 96 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries, while Edge rushed seven times for 54 yards.

Defensively, the Chieftains were led by Edge and Sam Infield, who each had 17 tackles. Ben Infield was in on 12 stops, four of which were for a loss.

Potosi/Cassville 27, Black Hawk/Warren 22

(from Friday, Oct. 9 @ Potosi)

Black Hawk/Warren...6 8 0 8 — 22

Potosi/Cassville.........7 7 7 6 — 27

First quarter

BHW: Dax Paquin 44 run (conversion failed), 9:35

PC: Aimslee Tasker 1 run (Aaron Edge kick), 5:15

Second quarter

BHW: Paquin 2 run (Brody Argall run), 2:35

PC: Drew Richardson 13 pass from Edge (Edge kick), 0:17

Third quarter

PC: Richardson 59 pass from Edge (Edge kick), 11:08

Fourth quarter

PC: Tasker 11 run (conversion failed), 9:51

BHW: Paquin 4 run (Argall run), 2:40

Team statistics

First downs — BHW , PC . Rushing – BHW 32-231, PC46-269. Passing (comp-att-int, yards) — BHW 4-10-1, 104; PC 5-6-0, 132. Fumbles–lost — BHW 2-2, PC 1-1. Penalties-yards — BHW , PC .

Individual Leaders

Passing — BHW: Trent Bidlingmaier 2-4-0, 73, Beau Podnar 2-6-1, 31; PC: Aaron Edge 5-6-0, 132. Rushing — BHW: Dax Paquin 32-231; PC: Hunter White 21-121, Aimslee Tasker 17-96, Aaron Edge 7-54. Receiving — BHW: Paquin 2-73, Trent Bidlingmaier 1-19, Brody Argall 1-12; PC: Drew Richardson 2-78, Ben Infield 2-36. Tackles — PC: Aaron Edge 17 (1 TFL), Sam Infield 17, Ben Infield 12 (4 TFL, 1 FR), Hunter White 9 (1 TFL), Reid Weber 7 (1 TFL), Bradly Retallick 7, Payton Thoma 7. Interception — PC: Richardson 1-0.