MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Oct. 7–14)
SWC FOOTBALL: Platteville 43, #9 Prairie du Chien 42
By Steve Prestegard, The Platteville Journal

Hillmen overcome 16-point deficit, injury to starting QB to beat #9 Blackhawks and clinch SWC title

PRAIRIE DU CHIEN — The Platteville football team seems to have adapted the unofficial U.S. Marine Corps motto “improvise, adapt, overcome” as its 2026 theme.

Get behind two scores — the first times this season — twice? Not a problem.

The end zone is a long distance away? A journey to the end zone starts with the first yard.

Lose your starting quarterback to injury? Next man up.

Get a controversial personal foul call after a failed fake punt? Take advantage to score the winning points.

That press-on-regardless attitude similar to the Milwaukee Brewers this season propelled the Hillmen to a 43–42 win over Prairie du Chien at Mulrooney Field and Platteville’s first Southwest Wisconsin Conference title since 2023.

“It’s a team award and something our entire program can be proud of,” said coach Isaiah Altfillisch, the offensive coordinator on the 2023 team and the starting center on the 2017 co-champion team. “It represents a lot of work and commitment from our players and coaches throughout the year. We’re proud of what our guys have earned, but our focus remains on continuing to get better and playing our best football.”

The quarterback tandem that might as well be called BrodyRandyn DigmanSchumacher combined for 164 passing yards, one touchdown pass, one two-point conversion pass, 232 rushing yards and five touchdown runs.

“We’re proud of how our entire team responded” after Digman’s injury after a run for a first down on Platteville’s second offensive play in the third quarter. “Our guys never flinched throughout the game. They continued to trust each other, execute one play at a time, and play together regardless of the circumstances.”

The circumstances started with a 14–0 after the Blackhawks’ first two drives ended with a 39-yard Cayden Sutter touchdown pass to Drake Chesebro and a 20-yard Darian Jackson touchdown run. Brody Digman’s 25-yard touchdown run around the left side, in which he faked out three Blackhawk defenders, cut the lead in half with 2:43 left in the first quarter, finishing an eight-play 86-yard scoring drive.

Brad Rupp’s 30-yard touchdown catch over a defensive back on the field where he suffered a season-ending knee injury last season tied the game 14–14 with 9:46 left in the half, ending a nine-play 97-yard scoring drive. Prairie du Chien responded with two Jackson touchdown runs and two-point conversions extended the Blackhawk lead to 30–14 with 1:32 left in the first half.

That was enough time for the Hillmen to race 64 yards in five plays plus two Blackhawk defensive timeouts. Catches for first downs by Rupp and Eli Opgenorth set up Digman’s two-yard touchdown run with 1:02 left in the half.

The Hillmen switched defenses at the half, going to a five-man defensive line that made running the football harder. Prairie du Chien’s first second-half drive ended without points at the Platteville 5 yard line, from where began a 95-yard drive that ended with Schumacher’s 65-yard touchdown run with 5:17 left in the third.

Sutter’s second touchdown pass to Chesebro, this time 30 yards, extended the lead to with 1:32 left in the third, 36–28 but no further after the Blackhawks’ second failed two-point conversion.

That left the opening the Hillmen charged through for a 13-play 72-yard scoring drive to the tie game, 36–36, on Schumacher’s 8-yard touchdown run and two-point pass to Will Zielinski with 10:03 left in the second half.

The defense forced a three-and-out, and Platteville took over at its 35. Four plays later on fourth-and-inches short of the 45, the Hillmen lost three yards on a fake punt reverse run, only to gain 15 yards on a personal foul penalty committed upon Opgenorth. Schumacher found Zielinski for a 15-yard pass on third-and 9, then finished the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run with 4:57 left to give the Hillmen a 43–36 lead.

Four Blackhawk runs gained 36 yards, then Sutter found Chesebro for a 24-yard touchdown pass with 2 minutes left. As they had done all game, Prairie du Chien went for a two-point conversion. For the second time, the two-point conversion play ended where it began with a fumbled snap.

Alex Cullen recovered the onside kick, the Hillmen got a first down and then celebrated their SWC title with their nonconference crossover game at Darlington next week. The Redbirds, which won the Division 6 title last season, are ranked number one and projected as the number one Division 5 seed in the playoff matrix.

“We’re excited for another opportunity to compete against a really good football team,” said Altfillisch. “Our focus remains on ourselves, continuing to improve, and putting together our best 48 minutes of football.”

Platteville 43, #9 Prairie du Chien 42

(from Friday, Oct. 9 @ Prairie du Chien)

Platteville.............7 14 7 15 — 43

Prairie du Chien..14 16 6 6 — 42

First quarter

PdC: Cayden Sutter 39 pass to Drake Chesebro (run failed), 10:12

PdC: Darian Jackson 20 run (run), 4:30

P: Brody Digman 25 run (Leo Carlos kick)

Second quarter

P: Brad Rupp 30 pass from Digman (Carlos kick), 9:46

PdC: Jackson 7 run (Brock Radloff run), 5:58

PdC: Jackson 4 run (Chesebro pass from Sutter), 1:32

P: Digman 2 run (Carlos kick), 1:02

Third quarter

P: Randyn Schumacher 65 run (Carlos kick), 5:19

PdC: Chesebro 30 pass from Sutter (Chesebro pass from Sutter), 1:22

Fourth quarter

P: Schumacher 8 run (Will Zielinski pass fro Schumacher), 10:03

P: Schumacher 10 run (Carlos kick), 4:47

PdC: Chesebro 24 pass from Sutter (run ailed), 2:15

Team Statistics

First downs — P 24, PdC 18. Rushing — P 35-288, PdC. Passing (comp-att-int, yds) — P 15-28-0, 71; PdC 10-13-0, 164. Fumbles–lost — P 0-0, PdC 0-0. Penalties-yards — P 3-20, PdC 10-85.

Individual Leaders

Passing — P: Brody Digman 9-17-0, 102, Randyn Schumacher 6-11-0, 62; PdC: Cayden Sutter 10-13-0, 164. Rushing — P: Digman 7-128, Schumacher 10-104, Briggs Weigel 18-56; PdC: Darian Jackson 27-135, Jacob Kramer 5-43. Receiving — P: Brad Rupp 7-99, Will Zielinski 2-33, Randyn Schumacher 3-20, Eli Opgenorth 3-12; PdC: Drake Chesebro 9-155, Brock Radloff 1-9. Tackles — P: Briggs Weigel 18 (2 TFL), Alex Cullen 9 (1 TFL), Matthew Brogley 6, Landon Donahoe 5 (1 TFL), Eli Opgenorth 5 (1 TFL), Shawn Harris 4. Interceptions — none.