Platteville certainly had its fair share of chances to grab control of Friday’s night, August 18th, non-conference season-opener against Darlington.

Unfortunately, back-to-back failed second-quarter possessions inside the Darlington 10-yard-line and a Breylin Goebel to Broker Buschor touchdown pass late in the first half propelled the visiting Redbirds to a 34–7 win over the Hillmen Friday at UW–Platteville’s Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium.

Platteville has now lost six straight games to Darlington, dating back to a 35–19 win at DHS Aug. 22, 2014.

“That was a tough game on Friday, but I do believe that there is a ton to build on,” said second-year Platteville head coach BryceArneson. “I believe that Darlington is a great program and when they find something that works, they are going to attack that and they did on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball on Friday.”

Darlington (1–0) marched right down the field on its opening drive and took an early 7–0 lead on a 6-yard touchdown run by senior Breylin Goebel, who made the switch from running back to quarterback this year.

The Platteville defense came up with three fumble recoveries in the first half to slow the Redbird offense.

Senior Davyn Edge poked the ball free from Tye Crist and Lucas Ludlum recovered deep in Darlington territory late in the first quarter to set up Platteville’s lone score of the game.

Senior Riley Donahoe bulled his way across the end line from 6 yards out and sophomore Tyler Sasse added the extra point to tie the game at 7–7 with 1:16 left in the opening quarter.

Platteville had two chances to score late in the second quarter, but the Darlington defense held each time.

Will Murray came up with an interception at the Redbird 4-yard-line.

But Darlington fumbled the ball right back to Platteville, and Sasse and fellow sophomore Dylan Weigel ran the ball down inside the Darlington 5 once again.

But a pair of holding penalties pushed the Hillmen way back and a 4th-and-goal completion to senior tight end Zach McClain was stopped three yards short of the end zone.

Crist reeled off back-to-back big runs through the left side, the later a 41-yard gain that put the visitors in scoring position.

Afew plays later, sophomore Broker Buschor a nice juggling catch with Ludlum drapped all over his right arm for a 5-yard TD reception with 24 seconds left in the first half.

“I believe that our team played really well in the first half, and especially the defense,” said Arneson. “Our offense struggled to convert on some turnovers that were caused in the red zone, but those are things that we can work on. I left the game upset but watching the film I think that we just need to fix a couple things and then we will be back on the path we wanna be.”

The Darlington defense forced a quick punt to start the second half, and a nice return by junior Maddox Goebel set up the Redbirds deep in Platteville territory. Goebel scored from two yards out to cap the drive and make it 21–7.

“I think the momentum changed at the beginning of the second half when we had a three-and-out and Darlington went right down to score and put us down 14,” saidArneson. “That last couple minutes of the 1st half was tough because some of our guys were undisciplined and we had that reverse take them to the 20 and then they scored four plays later. I think it was just unlucky of what happened and then it snowballed from there.”

Maddox Goebel added 1-yard TD run in the fourth-quarter to put the game out of reach with 5:12 remaining, and finished the game with 33 yards on 11 carries.

Crist led the Redbirds with 116 yards on 18 carries, and scored his own 1-yard touchdown run with 3:43 left in the third quarter to make it 27–7.

Breylin Goebel completed 6 of 12 passes for 109 yards, and also recorded a team-high 11 tackles. His favorite target was Murray, who hauled in three receptions for 76 yards.

Platteville struggled to run the ball the entire second half against Darlington’s stingy defense and became one dimensional.

The Redbirds held the Hillmen to just nine yards rushing on 28 carries.

Carter Murray and Reagan Jackson each recorded seven tackles for Darlington, including a team-high two sacks by Murray.

Junior T.J. Pink completed 15 of 23 passes for 144 yards and one interception in his varsity starting debut. He was also sacked six times and finished with negative-37 yards rushing on 10 carries.

Ludlum caught four passes for 44 yards to lead the Platteville offense. Tashner added four catches for 36 yards, and made six tackles on defense.

Weigel made a team-high seven tackles to lead the Hillmen defense.

Platteville (0–1) will host Mineral Point Friday at 7 p.m. at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium. The Pointers (0–1) are coming off a 12–7 loss to visiting Lancaster.

“I think this will be a great test on how the team can bounce back and put on a show for our community,” added Arneson. “I think that Week 1 is behind us now and we just need to grow from the experience and get better at the little things. I think that we will take the step necessary for us to have success on the field and will leave the field happy and energized after we beat the Pointers.”

The two-time defending SWAL champion Redbirds (1– 0) will host Prairie du Chien Friday at 7 p.m. for the 2023 home opener. The Blackhawks (1–0) squeaked out a 16–12 win over La Crosse Aquinas Friday night.

Darlington 34, Platteville 7 
(from Friday, Aug. 19 @ UW–Platteville Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium) 
Darlington................ 7 7 13 7 — 34 
Platteville.................7 0 0 0 — 7 
First quarter 
D: Breylin Goebel 6 run (Denilo Ramos-Godoy kick), 8:18 P: Riley Donahoe 6 run (Tyler Sasse kick), 1:16 
Second quarter 
D: Broker Buschor 5 pass from Goebel (Ramos-Godoy kick), 0:24 
Third quarter 
D: Maddox Goebel 2 run (Ramos-Godoy kick), 9:21 D: Tye Crist 1 run (kick failed), 3:43 
Fourth quarter 
D: B. Goebel 1 run (Ramos-Godoy kick), 5:12 
Team Statistics 
First downs — D 10, P 6. Rushing — D 49-199, P: 28-9. Passing (comp-att-int, yds) — D 5-11-9, 81; P: 15-23-1, 144. Fumbles– lost — D 3-3, P 0-0. Penalties-yards — D: 2-15, D: 5-30. 
Individual Leaders 
Passing — D: Breylin Goebel 6-12-0, 109; T.J. Pink 15-23-1, 144. 
Rushing — D: Tye Crist 18-116; P: Riley Donahoe 11-43. 
Receiving — D: Will Murray 3-76; P: Lucas Ludlum 4-44, Garrison Tashner 4-36, Davyn Edge 4-27. 
Tackles — D: B. Goebel 11, Carter Murray 7, Reagan Jackson 7; P: Dylan Weigel 7, Garrison Tashner 6, Zack McClain 6.