SOUTH WAYNE — After season-opening losses to Pecatonica/Argyle and Cassville, some might have thought the Potosi football team would not have a good season.

To quote Mark Twain, reports of the demise of the Chieftains have been greatly exaggerated.

The Chieftains wrapped up their Six Rivers Conference season by winning their sixth straight game and clinching a tie for second place with a 34–16 win over Black Hawk at Dennis Murphy Field Saturday afternoon.

Potosi hosts Cashton in the Chieftains’ non-conference game Friday, while Cassville hosts Belmont. A Cassville win would put the Chieftains and Comets tied for second, though Cassville would have a seeding-meeting argument based on the Comets’ win over Potosi in the second week of the season.

The Chieftains scored on both long drives and single plays Saturday. Potosi’s first drive took 13 plays, 80 yards and almost six minutes, including a four-yard Nathan Friederick run on third-and-5, and a 13-yard Tyler Udelhoven run on third-and-6. Friederick’s nine-yard touchdown run on third-and-goal gave Potosi a 7–0 lead with 1:34 left in the first quarter.

A mishit 16-yard punt set up Potosi at the Black Hawk 30, from where Teagan Friederick ran it in to extend the lead to 14–0 52 seconds into the second quarter.

Black Hawk cut the lead to 14–8 on a nine-play 55-yard drive that featured a Brody Milz two-yard run on third-and-1 and ended with a one-yard Milz run on third-and-goal. Jacob Quinn’s two-point run cut the lead to six with 7:20 left until halftime.

Potosi nearly duplicated its first scoring drive exactly 12 minutes after its first score, going 81 yards in 16 plays and 5:40. The drive included a 15-yard pass from Tyler to Jacob Udelhoven on third-and-7, a 23-yard fake punt run by Tanner Collins on fourth-and-3, another Udelhoven-to-Udelhoven pass of 23 yards on third-and-10, and on fourth-and-goal from the 5 a Tommy Pluemer inside-reverse run to extend the lead to 21–8 with 1:34 left in the first half.

The Chieftains got a defensive stop at the end of a 10-play Black Hawk drive, then took five plays and 2:01 to go 58 yards, the last 31 on a Teagan Friederick run to extend the lead to 28–8 with 2:34 left in the third.

Black Hawk then moved the ball from the Warrior 34 to the Potosi 18, but on fourth-and-9 Pluemer intercepted a Milz pass at the Potosi 2 and returned it all the way back for a 98-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 34–8 with 9:57 remaining.

Black Hawk got its final score on a 13-play 75-yard drive that included a four-yard run by Jacob Quinn on fourth-and-4 and ended on a Milz one-yard run.

Potosi 34, Black Hawk 16
(from Saturday, Oct. 9 @ South Wayne)
Potosi             7    14    7    6     — 34
Black Hawk   0     8     0    8     — 16
First quarter
P: Nathan Friederick 9 run (Lucas Dressler kick)
Second quarter
P: Teagan Friederick 30 run (Lucas Dressler kick)
BH: Brody Milz 2 run (Jacob Quinn run)
P: Tommy Pluemer 5 run (Dressler kick)
Third quarter
P: T. Friederick 31 run (Dressler kick)
Fourth quarter
P: Pluemer 97 interception return (kick failed)
BH: Milz 4 run (Quinn run)
Team Statistics
First downs — P 15, BH 15. Rushing — P 36-248, BH 49-239. Passing — P 3-8-0, 61; BH: 5-13-1, 78. Fumbles-lost — P 1-1, BH 1-1. Penalties-yards — P 4-21, BH 10-79.
Individual leaders
Rushing — P: Teagan Friederick 16-127; BH: Jacob Quinn 16-135, Chase Stietz 10-77. Passing — P: Tyler Udelhoven 3-8-0, 61; BH: Michael Flanagan 6-12-1, 96. Receiving – P: Jacob Udelhoven 2-36; BH: Brody Milz 3-61.