Dixon’s offense has been racking up points all season, but its overshadowed defense has been just as dominant.

The Dukes had four straight shutouts from Weeks 3-6, and in three of those games allowed fewer than 50 total yards of offense. On the season, they have allowed just nine touchdowns while posting five shutouts and allowing teams to reach the 20-point mark just twice.

“Every day, all day, every week, we work on it. Pass rush, stopping the run, everything,” senior linebacker Brady Lawrence said. ”We make sure we’re all the best at what we do, and we want to dominate every stat.”

When it wins the pregame coin toss, Dixon usually defers its choice to the second half and starts the game with its defense on the field. That’s just fine with the Dukes, though, as they like setting the tone physically.

“We like being out there first, setting the tone real quick, being physical and getting off the ball fast from that first play,” Lawrence said after a Week 6 win over Stillman Valley that saw Dixon give up just 49 total yards.

In their two best defensive games, the Dukes allowed just 24 total yards in a Week 3 win over Rock Falls and 22 total yards in a Week 5 win over Oregon. They scored a combined 126 points in those games while allowing none.

“It’s always nice to know our defense can do that. [Defensive coordinator Tyler] Matteson is always working them hard,” junior quarterback Jagger Kemp said. “The D-line is great, and we had some things working on defense. They hold it down for us, and I know they’re going to get us the ball so we can go out there and score.”

On the season, Dixon holds a 456-71 scoring edge over its opponents, and has scored at least 47 points in eight of its nine games, surpassing the 50-point mark six times – including each of the past five games.

Lawrence credits the drills during practice every day, where the starters square off for iron sharpening iron.

“Every day of the week, we all go at it: starting O-line vs. starting D-line,” he said. “We just give each other the best look every week, and then we show it on Friday nights.”

Dixon closed the regular season with a 58-20 win over Genoa-Kingston as Landon Knigge ran for a school-record 447 yards.

Knigge earned Friday Night Drive Team of the Week MVP, and Brady Lawrence also got the nod at linebacker.

Newman challenged by Monmouth-Roseville

The Comets will look to bounce back after taking their most lopsided loss of the season against Monmouth-Roseville, a Class 3A team and one of the toughest it faced all year. The Comets fell 40-7 to close the regular season.

Missed opportunities and too many mistakes cost Newman in the loss.

The Comets scored on their opening drive of the game and were moving the ball well in the first half, but the Titans controlled the clock and took advantage of Newman turnovers to cruise after the break. Mon-Rose also stopped Newman on fourth down from the two-yard line to end the half.

“They came back and hit us hard, and we weren’t really prepared for it,” Rylan Alvarado said. “We haven’t been punched in the mouth like this since Week 5 against Rockridge. They were really big and really physical.”

Newman was also playing without its defensive leader and senior George Jungerman. Coach Mike LeMay expects him to be back next game.

“We gave away some opportunities in the first half, and they seized on them,” he said. “We were just really undisciplined and watching the ball up front.

LeMay said the team did some “uncharacteristic’ things that it needs to get better at.

“I think our kids will bounce back,” he said. “We’ve got a really solid team in general, and I think they just got challenged. And it’s one of the things that they’re going to have to do. Otherwise, next week, it’s over.”

Points aplenty for Polo

Polo’s 70-42 home win Friday over South Beloit had 10 touchdowns scored by the Marcos: four rushing scores from quarterback JT Stephenson, two more from Mercer Mumford and one from Jordan Reed; two pass connections from Stephenson to Mumford; and a kick return where Stephenson caught the ball and handed it to Mumford on a reverse play.

Reed’s touchdown with 3:23 to play in the game gave the Marcos 68 points before he ran a successful two-point conversion to reach 70.

The 70 points in a game is the most in Polo history since at least 1935, the earliest year without interruption when Polo game score histories are known. Given this distinction, the 70 points broke the previous mark set two years ago in a 68-6 win over Rockford Christian Life in Week 7; and that game topped the then-previous high of 67 achieved in a 67-7 win over East Dubuque in 1967.

• Ty Reynolds and Cody Cutter also contributed to this report

Area scoreboard

• Dixon 58, Genoa-Kingston 20
• Sterling 42, Rock Island 14
• Monmouth-Roseville 40, Newman 7
• Rockford Lutheran 22, Rock Falls 16
• Polo 70, South Beloit 42
• Eastland-Pearl City 53, Dakota 22
• Dwight 41, Oregon 8
• Farmington 48, Bureau Valley 0
• Stockton 44, Forreston 8
• Galena 26, Fulton 7
• Marquette 66, Morrison 23
• Amboy 54, West Central 14
• Milledgeville 28, North Shelby (MO) 12
• West Carroll 43, Hiawatha 26
• Alden-Hebron 26, Ashton-Franklin Center 8