Redbirds rally past Blackhawks to earn a 26-14 victory

By Derick Kelly

Entering the second and final week of non-conference play, the Prairie du Chien Blackhawks Football team was tasked with facing yet another top-five ranked team in the Darlington Redbirds, ranked third in D6 in the Bound Wisconsin Coaches Poll this week. The Redbirds, 63-33 winners over Platteville in week one, entered this season ranked 146th out of the top 500 winningest high school football programs in the United States all-time at 722-312-26 according to an article by MaxPreps.com’s Kevin Askeland. Prairie du Chien entered the week two matchup 10-15-1 all-time against Darlington, including having won the last four games in a row between the two programs.

The Hawks got the scoring going first with 7:36 left in the first quarter when quarterback Cayden Sutter connected with wide receiver Drake Chesebro on a 73-yard touchdown reception to give Prairie a 6-0 lead and Chesebro his first career touchdown. Garrett DeHart’s extra point attempt was good and the Hawks led the Redbirds 7-0. The hosts quickly answered back with a touchdown of their own by junior quarterback Zeke Zuberbuhler. The Redbirds extra point attempt was also good and the game was tied 7-7. Prairie du Chien marched down the field to the Darlington four yard line on their next drive, thanks in large part to a 64-yard reception by Ashton Landt from Sutter. After Landt was taken down just shy of the end zone, junior running back Darian Jackson pushed his way into the end zone from four yards out for his first career touchdown. DeHart successfully converted his second PAT attempt and the Hawks led 14-7 with four minutes left in the first quarter.

Darlington once again marched down the field but the Hawk defense stopped the Redbirds on a key third down inside Prairie du Chien territory. The Redbirds decided to take the field goal from 26 yards out and the scoreboard read Prairie du Chien 14, Darlington 10 as the first quarter ended. Momentum would quickly swing to Darlington early in the second quarter as a Prairie du Chien punt attempt deep in their own territory was blocked and recovered for a touchdown by the Darlington defense. The hosts were now on top 17-14 with the scoring remaining the same as halftime rolled around.

Prairie du Chien began the second half with the ball and were marching down the field when a costly turnover hit the Hawks as they fumbled the ball near mid-field with the Redbirds recovering. On the very next play it was Zuberbuhler again hurting the Hawks as he took off for a 44-yard touchdown run as Darlington extended their lead to 24-14 with 6:59 left in the third quarter. The Hawks had several opportunities to swing the momentum back their way but were unable to capitalize on a promising drive down to the Darlington 36-yard line before turning the ball over on downs and then forcing the Redbirds to punt after stopping the hosts at the Prairie du Chien 46-yard line.

A 45-yard punt by Darlington junior Dante Glendenning pinned the Hawks down on their own 1-yard line. Trying to avoid a repeat of the previous series deep in their own territory that led to the blocked punt, the Hawks ran three plays in-a-row for a total of five yards and were forced to punt again. This time it wasn’t a blocked punt that caused chaos for Prairie du Chien, but a high snap that went over the head of punting Drake Chesebro and out of the end zone for a safety as Darlington now led 26-14 with 8:09 left in the fourth quarter. The Hawks kept the pressure going as the Hawks’ Jack Simmons recovered a Darlington fumble at the PdC 49-yard line on the third play of the Redbirds first possession after the safety. Sutter led the Hawks down to the Darlington 13-yard line thanks to four consecutive completed passes, including a 26-yard pass to Drake Chesebro. Darlington’s defense however showed why they are going to be a force in D6 this season by forcing two incompletions on second and third down before sacking Sutter for an 11-yard loss on fourth down as the Hawks turned the ball over deep in Darlington territory with 7:42 remaining in the game.

The two teams exchanged possessions the rest of the game with neither side being able to take advantage of drives deep into opposing territory, including a late interception by Prairie du Chien’s Mason Hird at the PdC 49-yard line that was returned 34 yards to the Darlington 17-yard line in the final minute of the game as the clocked ticked to zero with the final score Darlington 26, Prairie du Chien 14. The Redbirds went to 2-0 with the win while the Hawks fell to 0-2.

Sutter was 19 of 31 passing for 259 yards and one touchdown. The 259 yards are the ninth most passing yards by a quarterback in a game in program history. Drake Chesebro caught four of those passes for 118 yards and one touchdown. Landt caught seven passes for 105 yards to give the Hawks a pair of 100+ yard receivers in the same game for the second time ever in program history and the first time since September 27, 2019 when Ben Riter (117 yards) and Mason Kramer (101 yards) each had over 100 yards receiving against Richland Center. Also getting into the receiving tally was Hird (three catches for 16 yards), Brock Radloff (three catches for 13 yards) and Deacon Chesebro (one catch for seven yards).

Darian Jackson carried the ball 15 times for 19 yards and one touchdown to lead the Hawks in rushing. Also running the ball for the Hawks on the night were Deacon Chesebro (six times for 16 yards), Hird (one time for negative five yards) and Sutter (five times for -12 yards).

Prairie du Chien is at home this Friday night as they play host to a Platteville team that is 1-1 on the season thanks to a 41-14 win over Mineral Point in week two. It will also be Hall of Fame Night.