The Blue Devils went back to work on the defensive end on Thursday night as they forced three interceptions and kept Walworth Big Foot scoreless the final three quarters in an 18-6, Rock Valley Small Conference win. Alex Rashid rushed for 86 yards on 24 carries to lead Lodi, which held the Chiefs to just 186 total yards following their 448-yard, 47-point outburst in week 1.

While the Blue Devils ground game was also held in check — Lodi had just 169 total yards on the ground on 37 carries — their passing game helped pick up the slack. Much of that came from the duo of twin brothers Quinn and Connor Faust.

Quinn Faust completed 11-of-20 passes for 148 yards and two scores through the air, including what proved to be the game-winner to Connor midway through the second quarter. Facing a third-and-10 from the Big Foot 29-yard line and the game tied at 6, Quinn connected with Connor on a fade to the left side of the end zone for a 12-6 lead with 7 minutes, 36 seconds left to play before halftime.

The defense held serve until the break and didn’t let up the rest of the game. While Lodi’s offense had its struggles, the Blue Devils finally added to their tally late in the third quarter when Quinn Faust hit a wide-open Chance Meier on a 26-yard pitch-and-catch with 1:35 remaining in the quarter.

The Blue Devils (2-0, 2-0 Rock Valley Small) nearly padded their lead early in the fourth but turned the ball over on downs inside the Chiefs’ 20. Big Foot (1-1, 1-1) responded with one of its most promising drives of the night — the Chiefs rarely sniffed the Lodi red zone — but Quinn Faust undercut a deep pass by Big Foot quarterback Basil Demco with just under 8 minutes to play.

Lodi proceeded to chew up five-plus minutes off the clock before being forced to punt with just over two minutes left. Desperate for yards, the Chiefs again looked to go deep but Quinn Faust again snared a Demco pass for the Blue Devils’ third and final interception of the night.

The game started off with a bang as Lodi junior Lucas Heyroth got loose and housed the opening kickoff 89 yards for a prompt 6-0 lead for the Blue Devils just 12 seconds into the game. After trading drives, the Chiefs knotted things up at 6 in the waning minutes of the first quarter as Demco, who threw for 133 yards on 11-of-23 passing, connected with Alex Schmitz on a 6-yard slant with 1:38 to go in the opening stanza.

It proved to be the Chiefs’ lone red zone trip of the night as Lodi’s defense went into lockdown mode from there. Connor Faust hauled in four catches for 65 yards while the Big Foot offense mustered just 53 yards rushing on 27 carries.

Lodi will look to stay hot next Friday as it hosts Clinton.

Pumas picked apart by Glarner Knights

A week after yielding no passing yards through the air, Poynette was no match for New Glarus/Monticello’s aerial assault on Thursday.

The Pumas allowed the Glarner Knights to throw for 411 yards and four touchdowns through the air and didn’t score until the fourth quarter in a 34-7 loss in a Spring Large Conference game at New Glarus High School.

Junior Dylan Elsing rushed for 66 yards on four carries for the Pumas, who had 91 total rushing yards on 27 touches and just 190 yards of offense overall.

New Glarus/Monticello quarterback Darris Schuett had a field day against the Poynette secondary as the senior signal caller completed 25-of-44 passes for 407 yards and four TDs with just one interception. Schuett, who had touchdown passes of 39, 36, 10 and 31 yards, also added a rushing touchdown to pace the Glarner Knights.

New Glarus/Monticello wasted little time as Schuette hit Nathan Streiff on a 39-yard pitch-and-catch on the game’s opening drive for a quick 6-0 lead with 10 minutes, 38 seconds left in the first quarter. Schuett would add a 36-yard strike to Peter Gustafson later in the quarter to extend the lead to 13-0 before the Glarner Knights (2-0, 1-0 Spring Large) tacked on two more scores in the second quarter for a 28-0 halftime lead.

It was rough sledding for the Poynette offense all night as they were without starting quarterback Jimmy Heath. The Pumas (1-1, 1-1) toiled away, however, and eventually broke through with just over a minute to play as Hayden Taylor connected with Hans Mueller on a 22-yard touchdown pass with 1:21 to play.

Taylor completed 12-of-21 passes for 99 yards while junior Brock Chadwick made seven catches for 57 yards. Streiff had a dozen catches for 187 yards and Gustafson reeled in four for 111 among seven different Glarner Knights with a catch.

Poynette will attempt to rebound next week when it hosts Brodhead/Juda, which had a bye this week following a cancellation by Motello/Princeton/Green Lake.

LODI 18, WALWORTH BIG FOOT 6</&hspag4>

Lodi 6 6 6 0 — 18

Walworth Big Foot 6 0 0 0 — 6

L: Heyroth 81 kickoff return (conversion failed)

BF: A. Schmitz 6 pass from Demco (conversion failed)

L: C. Faust 29 pass from Q. Faust (conversion failed)

L: Meier 26 pass from Q. Faust (conversion failed)

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs — L NA, WBF 10. Rushing (Att.-Yds.) — L 37-169, WBF 27-53. Passing yards — L 148, WBF 133. Passing (Comp.-Att.-Int.) — L 11-20-0, WBF 11-23-3. Penalties-yards — L 3-20, WBF 5-39. Fumbles-lost — L 2-2, WBF 1-0.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing (Att.-Yds) — L: Rashid 24-86; WBF: Rouse 10-15.

Passing (Att.-Comp.-Int.-Yds) — L: Q. Faust 11-20-0-148; WBF: Demco 11-23-3-133.

Receiving (Att.-Yds) — L: C. Faust 4-65; WBF: Greco 5-66.

NEW GLARUS/MONTICELLO 34, POYNETTE 7</&hspag4>

Poynette 0 0 0 7 — 7

New Glarus/Monticello 13 15 6 0 — 34

NGM: Streiff 39 pass from Schuett (pass failed)

NGM: Gustafson 36 pass from Schuett (Benson kick)

NGM: Streiff 10 pass from Schuett (Schuett run)

NGM: Schuett 2 run (Benson kick)

NGM: Streiff 31 pass from Schuett (kick failed)

P: Mueller 22 pass from Taylor (McCormick kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs — P 5, NGM 18. Rushing (Att.-Yds.) — P 87, NGM 31-82. Passing yards — P 99, NGM 411. Passing (Comp.-Att.-Int.) — P 12-21-0, NGM 26-47-1. Penalties-yards — P 5-25, NGM 4-35. Fumbles-lost — P 1-1, NGM 2-0.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing (Att.-Yds) — P: Elsing 3-70; NGM: Femrite 9-54.

Passing (Att.-Comp.-Int.-Yds) — P: Taylor 12-21-0-99; NGM: Schuett 25-44-1-407.

Receiving (Att.-Yds) — P: Chadwick 5-48; NGM: Streiff 12-183; Gustafson 4-111.