ARGYLE — According to the Wisconsin Sports Network, Saturday’s Potosi–Pecatonica/Argyle football game was the best matchup in Wisconsin Saturday — the only game featuring two teams with winning records.
The battle for first place in the Six Rivers Conference lived up to its billing. Brent Curtis scored the third of his three touchdowns on a six-yard run with 5:30 remaining to give the Chieftains a 26–20 win at the annual Argyle Homecoming game, and, for this week, first place by themselves in the Six Rivers.
With the win, Potosi coach Mark Siegert, who is in his 16th season at Potosi, picked up his 100th career coaching victory, and now sits with a record of 100–65.
More importantly to him, though, the Chieftains also secured at least a share of the program’s sixth conference title under Siegert, and could claim it for themselves with a win over visiting Belmont (5–2, 6–2) Friday night.
“It was obviously one of the goals that we set,” said Siegert about the conference title. “The kids did what they needed to do to reach that goal.”
If the Braves beat the Chieftains, they would share the title, along with Pecatonica/Argyle (6–2, 5–2) if the Vikings beat River Ridge, and Black Hawk (5–3, 5–2) if the Warriors beat Highland Friday.
The game in fact mirrored the Six Rivers season to date, full of big plays and turnovers.
Curtis’ first touchdown was a 40-yard run on Potosi’s second play from scrimmage two minutes into the game. A missed extra point set another theme for the day — difficulty converting point-after tries.
One of the two biggest plays on defense was Riley Ostby’s pick-six interception with 4:21 left in the first, which tied the game at 6–6 after another missed extra point.
A 31-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Logan Green to Cameron Truethardt set up Truethardt’s 18-yard touchdown run that, combined with Green’s two-point run, gave the Vikings a 14–6 lead with 3:17 left in the first half.
The Chieftains moved the ball from their 20 to the Pec/Argyle 10 late in the first half, but failed to convert a fourth-and-22 following a holding penalty that wiped out a first down. That momentum may have carried into the second half, though, because Potosi opened the second half with a 10-play 72-yard drive that included a nine-yard Riley Hawes catch on third-and-7, a 12-yard Teagan Friederick run on third-and-2, and a 25-yard Daniel Post catch.
Curtis’ second touchdown cut the lead to 14–12 with 7:12 left in the third after a two-point pass from Kyle Kaiser to Hawes fell incomplete.
Kaiser and Hawes did connect later for a 15-yard pass that Hawes, by making a Viking defender miss, turned into a 67-yard touchdown catch with 2:23 left in the third, giving Potosi a 26–20 lead after the two-point run attempt ended short of the goal line.
Pec/Argyle tied the game, 20–20, on a 12-play 70-yard drive that started toward the end of the third and ended on a seven-yard across-the-field pass from Green to Ostby. The drive featured a two-yard Ostby run on fourth-and-inches to end the third quarter, passes of 12 and 25 yards from Green to Anthony Hendrickson, and another missed extra point.
Kicking issues also set up Potosi’s game-winning score, when a mis-hit punt wobbled out of bounds four yards behind the line of scrimmage. The Chieftains needed just five plays and 1:44 to capitalize, with Curtis running it in on third-and-five, giving Potosi a 26–20 lead after another two-point incompletion.
The other biggest play on defense ended the game. Pec/Argyle got from their 27 to the Potosi 21 in 11 plays, including a 21-yard Truethardt catch, a pass interference penalty, a Green quarterback sneak on third-and-1, and two fourth-down plays, the second caused by an equipment violation penalty on Potosi.
But Bryce McMahon’s sack of Green on fourth-and-nine, followed by two first down runs by Nathan Friederick and Curtis, sealed the win.
“It was very physical, and I think very well played by both teams,” said Siegert. “The kids played hard and it was just a great high school football game.”
Even though Friday’s game against Belmont is for either a share or all of the Six Rivers title, Siegert and the Chieftains are treating it like any other game on any other Friday night.
“We try not to weight the games any more than any other,” he said. “We’re just trying to get one win on that one night. Obviously it has bigger implications as far as the outright conference championship, and playoff implications whether or not we host, but we’re just focused on Belmont, regardless of what’s on the line.”
Potosi 26, Pec/Argyle 20
(from Saturday, Oct. 11 @ Argyle)
Potosi 6 0 14 6 — 26
Pec/Argyle 6 8 0 6 — 20
First quarter
P: Brent Curtis 40 run (kick failed)
P/A: Ostby 25 interception return (kick failed)
Second quarter
P/A: Treuthardt 14 run (Green run)
Third quarter
P: Curtis 7 run (pass failed)
P: Riley Hawes 68 pass from Kyle Kaiser (Teagan Friederick run)
Fourth quarter
P/A: Ostby 5 pass from Green (kick failed)
P: Curtis 5 run (pass failed)
Team Statistics
First downs — Po 14, PA 10. Rushing — Po 38-197, PA 31-84. Passing yards: Po 183, PA 135. Passing — Po 6-12-1, PA 7-21-1. Fumbles-lost — Po 2-1, PA 3-2. Penalties-yards — Po 3-25, PA 3-25.
Individual leaders
Rushing — Po: Teagan Friederick 16-101; PA: Treuthardt 956. Passing — Po: Kyle Kaiser 6-12-1, 183; PA: Green 7-21-1, 135. Receiving — Po: Riley Hawes 5-148; PA: Hendirckson 4-70.
