BLACHARDVILLE — Last Friday night’s Six Rivers football contest between Pecatonica/Argyle and visiting Potosi was without a doubt a tale of two halves.
     Though the two teams were knotted at 7–7 after one half of play, the Chieftains outscored their opponent 28–13 in the second half to claim a 35–20 victory and improve their season record to 3–0.
     The visiting Vikings seemingly controlled the first half of play, limiting the Chieftains to just 13 offensive plays on three possessions.
     One of Potosi’s first-half possessions ended with senior quarterback Tim Fritz scoring on a 23-yard run, followed by a successful extra-point kick by Fritz.
     Pec/Argyle knotted things up with an 11-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, followed by a successful extra-point kick.
     “They controlled the ball, even though they run a no-huddle spread offense,” said Potosi coach Mark Siegert of the Vikings. “They did a great job of controlling the ball and just nickel and diming us.
     “Our defense was out there the whole time, and it’s hard to score when you don’t have the ball.”
     At halftime Siegert stressed the importance of execution to his team, and making that little extra effort.
     “In the first half we were always just a step slow, or a second off,” Siegert said. “We just made it a point of emphasis at halftime to try to take care of that.”
     The Chieftains wasted little time executing what their coach had preached, by posting 14 points in the third quarter, then 14 more in the fourth.
     Running backs Jase Udelhofen and Alex Wright went to work in the second half, each scoring a pair of touchdowns.
     Udelhofen finished the night with 127 yards and two TDs on 20 carries, scoring from one yard out in the third quarter and then 37 yards out in the fourth.
     Wright finished the game with 103 yards and two TDs on 11 carries, scoring from nine yards out in the third and from 17 yards out in the fourth.
     As a team, the Chieftains rushed for 329 yards and five TDs on 39 attempts for an average of 8.4 yards per attempt.
     “We always want to establish the run,” Siegert said. “We didn’t get an opportunity to do that in the first half, but we ended up with our best rushing night of the year.”
     “We’re still putting our passing game together. I wish it was a little bit further at this time of the year, but it will come.”
Fritz did complete 5-of-11 passing attempt for 134 yards, connecting with Hunter Leibfried once for a 66-yard gain.
     Fritz also gained 78 yards on the ground on only seven rushing attempts.
     The Vikings concluded the night with 82 yards on the ground and 258 through the air, scoring on 15 and 57-yard TD passes in the second half by Jon Hendrickson.
     Hendrickson finished the night 17 of 34 for 258 yards and led the Vikings with 49 yards rushing on 12 carries.
     With Friday night’s win, coach Siegert’s squad survived a rugged three-game begin the season, and is one of only two unbeaten teams in the Six Rivers Conference; Highland being the other.
     “I think we’ve had three quality opponents, and I think those three teams will all make the playoffs,” said Siegert of Black Hawk, Belmont and Pec/Argyle. “So I think we played three playoff teams and it’s always good to be 3–0 against them.”
     This Friday night the Chieftains (3–0) hit the road to take on Weston (1–2) of the Ridge & Valley conference. The Silver Eagles are coming off a 22–12 loss to Kickapoo/La Farge.

Potosi 35, Pecatonica/Argyle 20
(from Friday, Sept. 7 @ Blanchardville)
Potosi    7    0    14    14      —  35
Pec/Argyle    0    7    0    13     —  20
First quarter
Po: Tim Fritz 23 run (Fritz kick)
Second quarter
P/A: Conwell 11 pass from Hendrickson (Severson kick)
Third quarter
Po: Jase Udelhofen 1 run (Fritz kick)
Po: Alex Wright 9 run (Fritz kick)
Fourth quarter
P/A: Lloyd 15 pass from Hendrickson (Severson kick)
Po: J. Udelhofen 37 run (Fritz kick)
P/A: Conwell 57 pass from Hendrickson (kick failed)
Po: Wright 17 run (Fritz kick)

Team Statistics
First downs: Po 17, P/A 14. Rushing: Po 39-329, P/A 27-82. Passing Yards: Po 134, P/A 258. Passing: Po 5-11-1, P/A 17-34-0. Fumbles–lost:  Po 1-0, P/A 0-0. Penalties-yards: Po 7-75, P/A 5-40.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Po: Jase Udelhofen 20-127, Alex Wright 11-103; P/A: Hendrickson 12-49. Passing: P: Tim Fritz 5-11-0, 135; P/A: Hendrickson 17-30-0, 258. Receiving: Po: Hunter Leibfried 1-66; P/A: Conwell 8-140.