MINERAL POINT – The 116th meeting on the gridiron between Darlington and Mineral Point quickly turned into a Redbirds’ rout.
    The ‘Birds scored on the ground and through the air. On offense and on defense. And, with their first team and their second team. All told it added up to a 61-0 victory over the Pointers in the Redbirds’ SWAL opener on Friday, Sept. 9.
    Senior running back Hunter Johnson continued his assault on opposing defenses by rushing for 138 yards and three touchdowns on just six carries, while senior running back Trevor Johnson teamed with senior quarterback Jared Meister for a pair of long scoring strikes as the Birds’ passing attack took flight.
    H. Johnson scored on runs of 12, 54 and five in the first quarter to lead the Redbirds (4-0 overall, 1-0 SWAL) out to a quick 33-0 lead. T. Johnson hauled in a 46-yard TD pass from Meister, and senior Brayden McDonald returned an interception 35 yards for another score in the quarter.
    Meister added a 32-yard TD scamper and hooked up with T. Johnson on another 46-yard TD pass in the second quarter to extend Darlington’s advantage to 47-0 at the half.
    In the third quarter, junior running back Grady Reilly caught a 39-yard TD pass from back-up quarterback Ryan Glendenning to make it 54-0, and junior running back Kameron Blosch added an 11-yard TD run in the fourth quarter to close the scoring on the night.
    The Redbirds finished with over 500 yards of total offense after rushing 40 times for 358 yards and four touchdowns and adding 161 passing yards on six completions with three more scores.
    The Darlington defense was equally impressive limiting the Pointers (2-2, 0-2) to 73 total yards and forcing four turnovers en route to their second shutout of the season. The Pointers gained 66 yards through the air, and managed just seven rushing yards on 19 carries.
    T. Johnson had three catches for 94 yards and two TDs and ran four times for 31 yards. Blosch tallied 83 yards on nine carries with a TD for the ‘Birds.
    The Redbirds improved their all-time record over Mineral Point to 88-23-5 in the series with their 10th straight victory over the Pointers.
     Darlington returns home to host Cuba City (2-2, 2-0) in a SWAL clash at Martens Field on Friday, Sept. 16. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
Darlington……. 33  14  7  7 – 61
Mineral Point…   0    0  0  0 –   0
D – Hunter Johnson, 12 run (Connor McGowan kick)
D – H. Johnson, 54 run (kick failed)
D – Trevor Johnson, 46 pass from Jared Meister (kick failed)
D – H. Johnson, 5 run (kick failed)
D – Brayden McDonald, 35 interception return (T. Johnson run)
D – Meister, 32 run (McGowan kick)
D – T. Johnson, 46 pass from Meister (McGowan kick)
D – Grady Reilly, 39 pass from Ryan Glendenning (McGowan kick)
D – Kameron Blosch, 11 run (McGowan kick)
 
Team Stats: First Downs– D 15; MP 4. Rushing– D 40-358; MP 19-7. Passing– D 5-7-0, 161; MP 8-19-3, 66. Fumbles-Lost– D 0-0; MP 2-1. Penalties– D 5-70, MP 4-20.
 
Darlington: Rushing (Att-Yds-Td)– Hunter Johnson, 6-138-3; Kameron Blosch, 9-93-1. Passing (Comp-Att-Int-Td-Yds)– Jared Meister, 6-8-0-3, 161. Receiving (Cat-Yds-Td)– T. Johnson, 3-94-2; Grady Reilly, 1-39-1.