FENNIMORE — Fennimore was already behind the eight ball without starting quarterback Reid Larson.

The wind and rain, as well as the Mineral Point defense didn’t make in any easier on the shorthanded Golden Eagles.

Riley Workman rushed for 106 yards and four touchdowns to lead the visiting Pointers to a 42–13 victory Friday night.

The Fennimore offense struggled without its signal calle and managed just 147 yards of total offense in the sloppy conditions.

Larson, who has passed for a conference-best 1,399 yards and 20 TDs this year, suffered a partial tear of his hip flexor Wednesday night, leaving Fennimore head coach Boone Tollefson just one day of practice to prepare backup quarterback Maguire Fitzgerald for his first varsity start under center.

“There’s lot of things that affected the game Friday night, not just that one injury,” said Tollefson. “But without Reid, our offensive playbook shrinks a little bit, we were limited in our reps to get prepare without him and we weren’t able to get the ball to our playmakers out in space like we were used to. Also, going into that wind

Tollefson was also frustrated in his teams lack of focus on a number of plays in the loss.

“What disappointed me most, was where we were mentally, like the onside kick to start the game. We prepare all week for that. We knew they like to pop up those short kicks and we still didn’t cover it. And on the last play of the half we were  calling out bootleg, and they get outside and complete a touchdown pass. In a weather game like this is it ultimately came down to which defense tackled best and that was Mineral Point, not us.”

After recovering an onside kick to start the game, the Pointers drove the field and took a 7–0 lead on Workman’s first touchdown run. He added a 7-yard touchdown run later in the quarter to make it 14–0.

With the wind at its back in the second quarter, the Fennimore offense was bale to move the ball. Junior Zach Davis ripped off a 27-yard TD run with 3:44 left in the half to pull within eight at 14–6.

But the real back breaker came on the final play of the first half. Fennimore got a hand on sophomore QB Isaac Lindsey’s final pass, but freshman Mason Dailey hauled in the carom with no time left on the clock to give the Pointers 21–6 led.

Workman scored on the first drive of the second half, and after a Fennimore fumble deep in its own territory, Workman scored again on an 8-yard run with 4:25 left to make it 35–6.

Fennimore (6–2, 4–2 SWAL) will close out the regular season Friday night at home with a non-conference game against winless Orfordville Parkview.

Larson will not play Friday night, but Tollefson is optimistic the junior QB will be back for the first round of the playoffs next week.

Mineral Point 42, Fennimore 13

(from Friday, Oct. 6 @ Fennimore)

Mineral Point 14   7 21    0          ­— 42

Fennimore.    0   6   0    7          — 13

First quarter

MP: Riley Workman 2 run (Curtis Cox kick)

MP: Workman 7 run (Cox kick)

Second quarter

F: Zach Davis 27 run (kick failed)

MP: Mason Dailey 11 pass from Isaac Lindsay (Cox kick)

Third quarter

MP: Workman 2 run (Cox kick)

MP: Workman 8 run (Cox kick)

MP: Blaise Watters 54 pass from Lindsay (Cox kick)

Fourth quarter

F: Aiden Nutter 10 run (Derek Turben kick)

Team Statistics

First downs — MP 13, F 8. Rushing — MP 42-174, F 23-100. Passing (comp-att-int, yds) — MP 6-9-0, 126, F 3-11-1, 47. Fumbles–lost — MP 3-1, F 2-1. Penalties-yards — MP 1-6, F 13-91.

Individual Statistics

Rushing — MP: Riley Workman 28-106. F: Will Ahnen 2-37. Passing — MP: Isaac Lindsay 6-9-0, 126. F: Mcguire Fitzgerald 3-11-1, 47. Receiving — MP: Blaise Watter 1-54. F: Liam Kenney 2-34. Tackles — F: Derek Kepart 14.