Friday night brought a muddy matchup in Benton between the Mineral Point Pointers and the Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg Knights. 

The Knights opened the game on offense, with Gaige Stocks taking the ball up the midfield for a nearly 80-yard run to escape the Pointers and put the Knights up early. The Pointers were quick to respond with a touchdown shovel pass to Jameson Steffes to close out the first quarter of play.

After back-to-back touchdowns to open the game, the scoring came to a halt until the last five minutes of the half. Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg was able to string together a drive that got them deep into Pointer territory, with the drive being topped off by junior Connor Doyle's four-yard touchdown run.

Mineral Point again wasted no time replying, with Tyler Ingwell taking standard coverage, nearly 70 of his 75 receiving yards downfield for a touchdown.

The final drive of the half for Mineral Point was heavily controlled by freshman Jameson Steffes, who ended the night with 42 receiving yards and 24 rushing yards, and was capped off by a 26-yard field goal from Liam Carey to take a 17-14 lead into the break.

The Knights were able to regain momentum rapidly out of the halftime break, with Doyle completing a short run into the end zone.

Doyle continued his offensive showcase, taking a screen pass from the Knights' own 45-yard line all the way to the end zone to add six more for Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg. An Elliot Kite block on the extra-point attempt kept the Knights at a 27-17 edge going into the final twelve minutes.

Carey and the Pointers opened the fourth quarter with a touchdown through the air to Ingwell with 8:27 left in regulation. Junior Carey put together another solid performance, ending the night 15-of-27 with 176 passing yards.

Mineral Point's freshman Boyer Watters forced a fumble recovered by Tyler Vondra at the Knights' 37-yard line. The Pointers remained poised and were able to convert on fourth down, with Steffes picking up his third touchdown of the night and giving the Pointers their first lead since the 9:40 mark of the third quarter.

With just over two minutes left to play, the Knights brought the ball back down into Pointer territory to the 12-yard line as the final 30 seconds ticked down. Mineral Point's freshman masterclass was topped off by an interception from Watters to secure the Pointer victory.