Behind the leadership of senior quarterback Tyler Mazur, the Reedsburg Beavers used their option offense to rack up 425 total yards of offense en route to a 60-12 victory over the Portage Warriors at Bob Mael Field on Friday night.

Mazur was the star of the show for the Beavers. Mazur, who is in his fourth year as a starting quarterback, if you count the two playoff games he started his freshmen year, ran for a 136 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while also throwing for 84 yards and two more scores in the contest.

"He's been around for awhile," Reedsburg head coach Brian Pottinger said of Mazur after the game. "He's a captain and leader for us. He's a good dual threat."

The game couldn't have gotten off to a better start for Portage, as the Warriors put together an 80-yard scoring drive that was capped off by a 6-yard touchdown run by Joe Mueller. The drive took just over 7 minutes off the clock.

Things quickly turned in Reedsburg's favor once the Beavers offense went to work. Reedsburg needed just six plays from scrimmage to score its next three touchdowns, as the Beavers took a 21-6 lead early in the second quarter. Mazur's 51-yard run scored the first Reedsburg touchdown. After Chad Mazur blocked Lee Swan's punt, Reedsburg went up 14-0 on a Matt Lennon 6-yard run. After Portage punted, on the very next play, Ryan Dischler hauled in a 33-yard TD pass from Tyler Mazur to put the Beavers in front 21-6.

"Our kids have been executing it really well all year," Pottinger said of his team's offense. "We're senior dominated on offense and they have been running it for two and for some of our kids, three years. So yeah, they do a nice job."

Portage had a tough time getting its offense rolling for the rest of the contest, but did give the home fans something to cheer about late in the first half when senior quarterback Greg Koch found junior receiver Kevin Hurd open down the left sideline for a 59-yard TD pass to make it 34-12 at the half. Any momentum gained from Hurd's touchdown was quickly lost when Reedsburg's Matt Lennon returned the second half kickoff 85 yards for a score, giving the Beavers a 41-12 lead.

Portage head coach Dave Schmitz said his young team had a tough time stopping Mazur and the Reedsburg offense, which finished with 341 rushing yards on 29 carries.

"(Mazur) does an excellent job. He does of a good job on the play-action pass too," Schmitz said. "In the first half we had guys in position, but they just were trying to do too much instead of just doing their job. That's common for young kids against the option."

While the Warriors fall to 0-4 with the loss and are facing a game next week with perennial power Waunakee, Schmitz points out that there is still plenty to accomplish for his team.

"I just told them, ‘we are not going to define our season on our record. We didn't last year when we were 4-0, so we are not going to do it this year," Schmitz said. "We have team goals that are set by our players and none of them have anything to do with winning and losing. We'll show up Monday and get back to work and that's all we can do."

REEDSBURG 60, PORTAGE 12

Reedsburg ............. 14 20 13 13 - 60

Portage ................... 6 6 0 0 - 12

PORTAGE - Mueller 6 run (kick blocked)

REEDSBURG - T. Mazur 51 run (Huinker kick)

REEDSBURG - Lennon 6 run (Huinker kick)

REEDSBURG - Dischler 33 pass from T. Mazur (Huinker kick)

REEDSBURG - T. Mazur 5 run (Huinker kick)

REEDSBURG - Huber 18 pass from T. Mazur (kick failed)

PORTAGE - Hurd 59 pass from Koch (pass failed)

REEDSBURG - Lennon 85 kick return (Huinker kick)

REEDSBURG - Lennon 52 run (kick failed)

REEDSBURG - C. Mazur 17 run (kick failed)

REEDSBURG - C. Mazur 25 run (Jasper kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs - R 17, P 14. Rushes-yards - R 29-341, P 44-123. Passing yards - R 84, P 161. Passes (Comp-Att-Int) - R 3-4-0, P 9-13-0. Penalties-yards - R 5-30, P 4-20. Fumbles-lost - R 0-0, P 1-1.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing: R - T. Mazur 8-136; P - Mueller 23-60. Passing: R - T. Mazur 3-4-0, 84; P - Koch 8-11-0, 153. Receiving: R - Dischler 2-66. P - Hurd 3-77.

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