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Eagle victories over Sterling Heights, Ford II and L’Anse Creuse North improved their pulse a little bit each week, evening their record to 3-3 heading into Friday night’s showdown with undefeated MAC Red leader Romeo at Swinehart Field.

Eisenhower’s heart rate took a major jump after the Eagles held on for a 17-14 win over Bulldogs.

“We were here to play football,” Eisenhower coach Bob Lantzy said. “I said we had a great football team after every one of those losses. We practice every week the same no matter what our record is. We practice every week like that game is the most important one coming up.

How big was this win? Lantzy had a quick answer.

“This is probably our biggest win since the semifinal win over Grandville in 2003,” Lantzy said. “We’ve waited five years to have a game of this magnitude.”

For Romeo, the loss isn’t as devastating as it would’ve been for Eisenhower. The Bulldogs are already in the playoffs at 6-1 overall, and are tied with Stevenson and Dakota for the division lead at 3-1. They will play at Stevenson next week with the winner gaining at least a share of the title. Dakota plays host to Eisenhower and a win over the Eagles will give the Cougars a share of the title with the Bulldogs or Titans.

“We still have control of our own destiny,” Romeo co-coach Curt Rienas said. “Next week will be a challenging week, but it’s right there in front of us.

“Eisenhower has a good football team and they played like it was the last game for them,” Rienas added. “They played hard, they were very physical and did a good job.”

Eisenhower executed three big plays in the game and it proved to be the difference.

In the first quarter, Eisenhower quarterback Taylor Copacia dropped back to pass, ran to his left to avoid pressure, before turning back to his right. Before he got to the sideline, he launched a pass to wide receiver Brett Kauten, who was behind the Romeo defender by two steps, catching the pass and running the final 20 yards for a 63-yard score. Jeff Roegner added the PAT and Eisenhower led 7-0 with 3:44 left in the opening quarter.

“I saw (Copacia) reverse his field and he had that defender coming right into his face and he let that thing fly,” Lantzy said. “Kauten has been the guy all year making big plays. He’s probably averaging seven catches a game and has been brilliant for us.”

Eisenhower had two chances to add to its lead in the second quarter, but a fake field goal attempt failed to get a first down on one possession, while a fumble that was recovered by Romeo’s Nicholas Duronio at the Bulldog 29 ended another scoring opportunity. The first half ended with Eisenhower leading 7-0.

The Eagle defense did a superb job keeping Romeo’s running attack in check in the first half, limiting running back Ben Brown to 28 yards on seven carries, while quarterback Ricky Roth had 18 yards on eight totes.

“They were chopping our linemen and we weren’t able to get to the second level,” Rienas said. “It was throwing off our running lanes a little bit. We talked about it at halftime and I don’t know what the linemen were seeing differently in the second half, but the adjustments obviously helped.”

The Eagle defense made the second big play on Romeo’s first possession of the third quarter.

The Bulldogs took the opening kickoff and marched inside the Eagle 35. However, on a quarterback keeper around the left end, Eisenhower’s Kale Wilson, who dislocated his shoulder in last week’s win against L’Anse Creuse North, made a hit, jarring the ball lose. He picked up the fumble and raced 66 yards for a touchdown. Roegner added the PAT and the Eagles led 14-0 with 8:07 left in the third quarter.

“Wilson’s heart is probably as big as anyone I’ve coached here at Eisenhower,” Eisenhower defensive coordinator Chris Smith said. “I’ve never seen a kid who’s wanted to play so bad and is as tough as he is. He came back from a dislocation and I know he was in pain. He’s playing great right now for us.”

Early in the fourth quarter, Romeo’s defense came up with a big play when James Kern intercepted a Copacia pass at the Bulldog 41 yard line.

Nine plays after the turnover, Brown scored on a 13-yard run. Robert Flinn added the PAT, closing the Eagle lead to 14-7 with 7:18 to play.

On Eisenhower’s ensuing possession, the Eagles marched from their own 39 to the Romeo 29 before facing fourth-and-three with 1:35 to play.

Following a time out, Roegner came on and booted a 36-yard field goal, increasing the Eagle advantage to 17-7.

“The turnovers, big plays and kicking game were excellent tonight,” Lantzy said. “We asked for three things tonight: defense, kicking game and quarterback. Who cares if you have an offense? All offenses do is lose. But we had a quarterback (Copacia) who made a couple big plays for us.”

Romeo wouldn’t go down without a fight, though, driving 45 yards on eight plays with Jacob Alcini scoring on a 1-yard run with 28 seconds to play. Flinn’s PAT was good, closing the gap to 17-14.

The Bulldogs attempted an on-side kick, but Eisenhower’s Jack Sauber fell on the try and the Eagles ran out the clock.

“We knew going into the game tonight (turnovers and big plays) was what it was going to be all about,” Rienas said. “Unfortunately, (Eisenhower) had more big plays in their favor.”

Lantzy complimented his defense for stepping up to the challenge against the Bulldogs.

“We spread it out and didn’t stunt at them tonight,” Lantzy said. “We weren’t going to let them get their perimeter plays. Brown was going to get his yardage no matter what.”

Copacia led the Eagles, completing 11-of-20 passes for 188 yards. Kauten had four receptions for 124 yards, while Kirk Dandurand added five receptions for 56 yards. Mike Farr led the ground attack with 50 yards on 13 carries, while Jacob Howell added 38 yards on nine totes, all in the fourth quarter.

Eisenhower improved to 4-3 overall, 2-2 league and will face host Dakota next week. Lantzy said his team must play like it did against the Bulldogs to continue their march to a possible playoff berth.

“Dakota’s going to be playing for a championship and these are all playoff games for us,” Lantzy said. “To get to 6-3 isn’t going to be easy because we’ll have a tough challenge next week.”

Romeo was led by Brown with 20 carries for 93 yards, while Roth added 37 yards on 15 rushes. Roth also completed 11-of-13 passes for 138 yards. Jason Schirmer had four receptions for 49 yards.

Cousino 25

Utica 7

The host Patriots broke open a 7-7 halftime tie with 18 unanswered points in the second half, defeating the Chieftains in a MAC White Division contest on Friday night.

Cousino helped its cause defensively, forcing Utica to commit seven turnovers, including six interceptions.

Utica scored in the second quarter when quarterback Connor Hinebaugh connected with wide receiver Andy Orr for a 45-yard score.

Hinebaugh completed 9-of-26 passes for 161 yards, and rushed four times for 54 yards. Orr had four catches for 85 yards, while Glenn Doss led the ground attack with 65 yards on 12 carries.

Defensively, Utica was led by Dave Burke with 15 tackles. The loss dropped the Chieftains’ record to 0-7 overall, 0-4 league.

Stevenson 49

Chippewa Valley 21

Tied 21-21 at halftime, the host Titans erupted for 21 points in the third quarter, cruising past the Big Reds in a MAC Red Division contest on Friday night.

Justice Wright led Stevenson with 17 carries for 167 yards and four TDs, scoring on runs of 5, 11, 3 and 29 yards. Titan quarterback Jason Fracassa completed 14-of-27 passes for 208 yards, including two touchdown strikes to D.J. Mershman, covering 11 and 36 yards. Mershman had four catches for 145 yards. Thomas Beaurem added a 15-yard scoring run.

The win improved Stevenson’s record to 6-1 overall, 3-1 league.

Dakota 35

Ford II 0

The host Cougars led 14-0 at halftime, en route to their MAC Red Division shutout win over the Falcons on Friday night.

The win improved Dakota’s record to 6-1 overall, 3-1 league, while Ford fell to 3-4 overall, 0-4 league.