BENTON  — The Potosi football team came into Saturday’s Benton/Scales Mound Homecoming game at Swift Park having won only the second-week forfeit over Cassville.

Spectators would have never known that given the Chieftains’ total domination of the Zephyrs en route to a 58–0 Six Rivers Conference victory on Saturday.

Sophomore running back Brady Curtis rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 carries, and added a 32-yard touchdown catch, while sophomore quarterback Will Bierman went 6 of 10 for 135 yards and two touchdowns through the air in just one half, and added 19 rushing yards and a touchdown on just three carries. Sophomore Jayden Carbone started the game with a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

The Chieftain defense, meanwhile, allowed Benton/Scales Mound to get no closer to the end zone than the Potosi 3-yard line the entire game.

As a result, the Chieftains (2–5, 2–4 Six Rivers) can extend their 12-year playoff streak by beating winless Belmont and River Ridge, which is one win away from a playoff berth, in their final two home games. Benton (1–5, 1–4 Six Rivers) will get its forfeit win over Cassville this week and can still make the playoffs, but must beat Pecatonica/Argyle and Highland in the final two weeks to do so.

Carbone’s kickoff return and Dylan Pluemer’s two-point run gave Potosi an 8–0 lead 23 seconds into the game.
One Benton three-and-out later, Bierman found Alex Udelhoven for a 33-yard pitch-and-catch touchdown that after Curtis’ two-point run extended the lead to 16–0 after four Potosi offensive plays and not even four minutes off the clock.

Benton/Scales Mound took the following kickoff and embarked on a 64-yard 13-play scoring drive that included an 11-yard pass from tight end-turned-quarterback Zach Stadel to Brooks Tiedeman for a first down, a 12-yard pass to Tiedeman and personal foul that turned a third-down-and-14 into a first down, and a 33-yard pass from Stadel to Aaron Coffey. The nearly six-minute-long drive ended five yards short of the end zone, however, when the defense forced a two-yard loss and a fourth-down a pass fell incomplete.

Curtis ran for four yards on first down, then went around the right end and down the Potosi sideline for a 91-yard touchdown run. Cyrus Siegert’s two-point run extended the Chieftains’ lead to 24-0 with 1:43 left in the first quarter.

The Chieftains’ longest scoring drive of the day followed, taking 11 plays and four minutes to march 65 yards. Bierman had a 15-yard completion to Udelhoven, Curtis had a 13-yard run for a first down, Bierman completed a 19-yard pass to Zach Reuter for another first down. Curtis’ second touchdown run of the day from the 7 extended the Chieftain lead to 30-0.

After a 13-yard quarterback sack ended the next Zephyr series, Bierman ran 11 yards for a first down, Pluemer ran 12 yards on fourth-and-2, and then Bierman threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Curtis to extend the lead to 36-0 with 1:11 left in  the first half.

Reuter’s interception and return to the Benton 6 on the second play of the second half set up Bierman’s 5-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 44-0 six plays into the running-clock second half.

Freshman Ryan Kruser added a 45-yard touchdown run and Carbone returned for a 20-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Potosi 58, Benton/Scales Mound 0
(from Saturday, Sept. 24 @ Benton)
Potosi          24   12    8   14     — 58
Benton/SM    0     0    0    0     —   0
First quarter
P: Jayden Carbone 97 kickoff return (Dylan Pluemer run)
P: Alex Udelhofen 33 pass from Will Bierman (Brady Curtis run)
P: Curtis 91 run (Cyrus Siegert run)
Second quarter
P: Curtis 8 run (pass failed)
P: Curtis 3 pass from Bierman (pass failed)
Third quarter
P: Bierman 5 run (run good)
Fourth quarter
P: Ryan Kruser 45 run (run good)
P: Carbone 20 run (kick failed)
Team Statistics
First downs — P 9, B/SM 5. Rushing — P: 30-292; B/SM 20-16. Passing yards: P 135, B/SM 85. Passes — P 6-10-0; B/SM: 7-15-1. Fumbles-lost — P 0-0; B/SM: 1-1. Penalties-yards — P 3-25; B/SM: 5-30.
Individual leaders
Rushing — P: Brady Curtis 10-135; B/SM: Aaron Coffey 4-5. Passing — P: Will Bierman 6-10-0, 135; B/SM: Zach Stadel 7-15-0, 85. Receiving – P: Alex Udelhofen 2-67, Zack Reuter 2-36; B/SM: Brooks Tiedeman 3-37, Aaron Coffey 2-46.