MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Oct. 3–10)
SIX RIVERS FOOTBALL: D7 #6 Potosi/Cassville 34, River Ridge 26
By A.J. Gates, Herald Independent
Potosi/Cassville wins title with 20–0 fourth quarter comeback
POTOSI – Momentum is a valuable commodity when it comes to nearly every sporting event. When you have it in your favor everything seems to be going your way, but when you lose it, it can be hard to overcome.
With momentum on their side for the better part of three quarters, coach Wade Winkers and his River Ridge football squad took a 26-14 lead into the fourth quarter of last Friday night’s Six Rivers conference clash with host Potosi/Cassville.
Though shorthanded, coach Mark Siegert’s Chieftains found a way to turn momentum into their favor in the final 12 minutes, pulling out a last-second 34-26 victory in dramatic fashion.
With the Six Rivers conference title on the line, Potosi/Cassville improved to 4-0 in league play and 7-1 overall, securing at least a share of the league crown with just one game remaining in the regular season.
The loss dropped River Ridge to 2-2 in league play and 5-3 overall, wiping out any hopes of a conference title.
Friday night’s contest had all the makings of an instant classic. There were big plays by both teams with instant momentum changes, key turnovers that led to big scores, and all wrapped up by a come-from-behind victory from a team missing a number of key players.
With the loss of fullback Roman Friederick to a season-ending injury earlier in the season, the Chieftains played Friday night’s game without it’s leading rusher and starting linebacker Eli Adams, who suffered a shoulder injury the week earlier against Black Hawk/Warren.
Also without senior linebacker Nolan Pierce, the Chieftains were playing without three of its four starting linebackers Friday night, not to mention their top two rushers.
“We were shuffling people everywhere all week long, just kind of hoping to make sure that we do the right thing and get the guys where they needed to be so they could be successful,” said coach Siegert.
“They did an awesome job all week of just stepping up and taking on these roles. There were some kids that were playing positions that they were not familiar with,” Siegert added.
River Ridge came into the contest eager to put their offensive weapons on display, which combined to give the Timberwolves control of Friday night’s game right from the start.
On just the second play from scrimmage, River Ridge quarterback Brandon Davis got loose on a keeper, and sprinted 65 yards for an early score.
Only 54 seconds into the game, River Ridge found themselves leading the Chieftains 6-0 after a failed two-point conversion run.
The River Ridge defense then stepped up, forcing Potosi/Cassville into a three-and-out on their first offensive possession, and took over at their own 25-yard line following a fourth-down punt.
On the very next play, a fumble by the Timberwolves was recovered by the Chieftains, who needed just four plays to score, getting a 23-yard touchdown run from junior running back Joe Haas, who also added the two-point conversion run to give his team an 8-6 lead.
River Ridge regained momentum later in the quarter, getting an interception from Carter Copsey, which set up a three-play scoring drive, capped off with a 21-yard touchdown run by fullback Andrew Nies. Brady Bunge scored on his team’s only successful two-point conversion run of the night, giving River Ridge a 14-8 lead with 2:39 to play in the opening quarter.
Looking to answer, Potosi/Cassville began moving the ball on their ensuing possession, getting a 30-yard pass from quarterback Braden Fishnick to Haas putting the Chieftains into possible scoring position.
The drive ended with another interception, this time by River Ridge’s Ty Adrian, who picked off a Fishnick pass at the Potosi/Cassville two-yard line.
Neither team added to their score until late in the second quarter, where River Ridge extended their lead to 20-8 with a seven-play, 59-yard scoring drive, that was capped off by a 40-yard TD run by Davis.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Chieftains answered with an 85-yard kick return straight up the middle of the field by Braden Fishnick to pull within 20-14 with 1:43 showing on the first-half clock.
“Giving up the kick return was a huge momentum changer and we had a big turnover after we stopped them on their first possession,” said River Ridge coach Wade Winkers. “It seemed like every time we had the momentum, we kind of let it slip away.”
The Timberwolves were able to turn momentum back into their favor early in the third quarter, forcing the Chieftains into a punt on their first offensive possession, then driving the ball 59 yards on seven plays to extend their lead.
A five-yard touchdown run by Drake Barrineau put River Ridge up 26-14 with 7:06 to play in the third quarter, which held up well into the fourth.
Dominated by Potosi/Cassville, the fourth quarter saw the Chieftains run 19 plays for 161 yards and two offensive scores, compared to just nine plays for 17 yards and no scores for the Timberwolves.
The Chieftains, who already were playing without Adams, put together a big offensive possession early in the fourth quarter with starting quarterback Braden Fishnick briefly tending to an injury on the sideline.
With junior Dawson Weber under center, Potosi/Cassville put together a 12-play scoring drive that covered 84 yards, and was capped off with a three-yard TD run by Haas. The two-point conversion run by Weber pulled the Chieftains to within 26-22 with 5:50 to play in the contest.
“It just seemed like we couldn’t get a stop, and they were just executing very well,” Winkers said of the scoring drive. “They made some clutch plays to keep the chains moving. Then I guess we just lost momentum.”
After gaining one first down to keep the clock moving, River Ridge was forced to punt on fourth-and-two from their own 38-yard line, giving possession to the Chieftains at their 34-yard line with 1:54 to play.
A big gainer by Fishnick, who had reentered the game, was followed by two negative rushing plays, leaving the Chieftains in a tough position with third-and-16 from their own 45-yard line.
Somehow, Haas got behind his defender down the right sideline, where Fishnick delivered a perfect pass, taking the ball down to the one-yard-line for a 54-yard gain.
A spike to kill the clock set up a second-and-goal, where Fishnick then took it in on a quarterback keeper, giving Potosi/Cassville only their second lead of the game with 17.7 seconds to play.
Potosi/Cassville added to their lead in the final seconds, when a desperation double pass attempt from Davis to Matthew Nies and back to Davis was picked off by junior defensive back Konner Spitzack, who took it to the house as time expired.
“A lot of guys had to step up and take on roles that they were asked to fill,” said Siegert after the win. “It’s never what you really want in terms of having guys get injured, but that’s part of the game. When you have guys that are able to step up like that, that’s really a great thing for your team and your team’s confidence.”
“It’s awesome for those kids that stepped up, plus it’s just going to be a big confidence boost for our team going forward hopefully,” Siegert added.
Without their top two rushers, Potosi/Cassville concluded the contest with 249 yards rushing on 45 attempts. They attempted just six passes, completing three for 88 yards.
“Kudos to them, they played an unbelievable game,” Winkers said of Potosi/Cassville. “They were shorthanded without some really good players, but coach Siegert had their guys ready to go, so congratulations to them.”
Stepping in for Adams, Haas finished the game with 106 yards and two touchdowns on 20 rushing attempts, while also hauling in two receptions for 78 yards, giving him a total of 184 all-purpose yards.
Taking the place of Friederick was sophomore Logan Rausch, who added 56 yards on 11 rushing attempts, while Fishnick finished with 82 yards and one score on 12 rushing attempts.
“Our offensive line, knock on wood, has been pretty healthy, and we’ve been able to gel with those guys. That makes it a lot easier to put guys in when we know what’s happening up front is pretty solid,” Siegert said of his offensive unit.
“Joe and Logan did a great job, and obviously Braden is a special athlete as well. When you have those front five and six guys, that really helps,” Siegert added. “That was the message all week. Some parts have changed, but the engine that drives this thing is still the same, so we’re going to have to lean on our offensive linemen really heavily this week to get us through.”
One would think without Friederick and Adams, the natural instinct for any coaching staff would be to lean on Fishnick even more, giving him the bulk of the carries, but coach Siegert didn’t do that.
“We said we’re still going to spread the ball around. It’s the Wing T offense, so we still have to do our thing,” Siegert explained. “It can’t just be one-dimensional with one guy, we have to be able to spread it out in order for it to be successful.”
Up until the fourth quarter, Winkers’ Timberwolves were moving the ball effectively on the ground, finishing the night with 291 yards on 43 attempts, only 17 of which came in the fourth quarter.
“We felt like we had a good plan moving the ball with our veer game and mixed in some jet with our power game, doing a combination of things to get more people involved,” Winkers said.
“I thought we ran hard and made some good blocks, especially on the edge. I thought we blocked well to give us some of those creases that we didn’t have before,” Winkers added.
“It got a little tougher as the game went on. It felt like their linebackers just started coming a little more often and we didn’t pick them all up at times,” Winkers explained. “We were up two scores and we’re thinking we don’t have to throw, we’re just trying to run the clock out. They brought a few more bodies knowing that we were trying to run the clock out. Hindsight being 20/20 I wish I was a little more aggressive a couple of times, but we were just trying to chew clock.”
Finishing with a team-high 134 yards and two touchdowns on 12 rushing attempts was Davis, who also completed 2-of-6 passing attempts for 16 yards.
Andrew Nies chipped in 86 yards and one TD on 21 carries, followed by Drake Barrineau with 76 yards and one score on nine carries.
Potosi/Cassville got a team-high 25 tackles from Isaiah Groom, while River Ridge was led by Andrew Nies with 13. Carter Copsey and Ty Adrian each had an interception for the Timberwolves, while Konner Spitzack had one for the Chieftains.
With a playoff eligible record of 5-1, the Chieftains will close out the regular season Friday night against Southwestern/East Dubuque (2-2, 4-4).
The Timberwolves, who have a record of 3-3 counting toward playoff eligibility, can secure a playoff bid with a win at Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg (1-3, 2-6) this Friday night.
#6 Potosi/Cassville 34, River Ridge 26
(from Friday, Oct. 6 @ Potosi)
River Ridge...........14 6 6 0 — 26
Potosi/Cassville....8 6 0 20 — 34
First quarter
RR: Brandon Davis 65 run (pass failed), 11:06
P/C: Joe Haas 23 run (Haas run), 7:47
RR: Andrew Nies 2 run (Brady Bunge run), 2:39
Second quarter
RR: Davis 40 run (pass failed), 1:55
P/C: Braden Fishnick 85 kickoff return 1:43
Third quarter
RR: Drake Barrineau 5 run (run failed), 7:06
Fourth quarter
P/C: Haas 3 run (Dawson Weber run), 5:50
P/C: Fishnick 1 run (run failed), 0:17
P/C: Konner Spitzack 45 interception return (kick failed), 0:00
Team statistics
First downs — RR 12, PC 12. Passing (comp-att-int, yards) — RR: 2-7-1, 16; PC 3-6-2, 188. Rushing – RR: 43-291; P/C: 45-249. Fumbles–lost — RR 1-1, PC 0-0. Penalties-yards — RR 6-40, PC 5-45.
Individual Leaders
Passing — RR: Brandon Davis 2-6-0, 16; P/C: Braden Fishnick 2-5-2, 78.
Rushing — RR: Davis 12-134, Andrew Nies 21-86; PC: Joe Haas 20-106, Braden Fishnick 12-82.
Receiving — RR: Drake Barrineau 1-16; PC: Joe Haas 2-78.
Tackles — RR: Andrew Nies 13, Matthew Nies 8, Brandon Davis 7, Elliott Thorton 7; P/C: Isaiah Groom 25, Dawson Weber 11, Konner Spitzack 0, Heath Rausch 10, Denny Espiritu 10.
