69����

The victory came over Edgerton’s rival, which was celebrating Homecoming.

And the win snapped the Blue Devils’ five-game winning streak in the series. Evansville also had won nine of the past 10 games against Edgerton.

So, when a final desperation Blue Devils pass fell incomplete as the clock hit 0:00, Lietz turned and pumped his arms a few times before being swarmed by his joyous players. After that, he walked to the track surrounding the field and gave the Edgerton bleachers a couple of arm raises.

“I told the kids, in my 34 years in the program, I think there were only two or three times when we’ve beat a ranked team when we were unranked,” Lietz said. “To beat an unbeaten Evansville team on their Homecoming, I mean everything was on their side.”

But Lietz had several key players on his side.

Brady Buskager was one. The 6-foot, 205-pound senior looks more like a linebacker, which he is on defense, than a slinging quarterback. Buskager was slated to alternate with Brett Appel at quarterback at the start of the season but was promoted to full-time when premier running back Juan Tobias suffered a torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee in the first game.

Appel moved to running back. Buskager stepped in and threw three touchdown passes Friday night. He finished 11 of 20 for 236 yards.

The first scoring pass went to Charlie Johnson for 25 yards and tied the game at 7-all on the first play of the second quarter.

The 6-foot-4, 195-pound Johnson finished with four catches for 63 yards and several tackles from his linebacker spot.

“We were just determined,” said Johnson, who had to deal with several leg cramps in the second half. “The guys in the trenches did a heckuva job. It was an awesome experience.”

Evansville had taken a 7-0 lead the second time they had the ball in the first quarter. Lincoln Keller, who finished with 136 yards on 27 carries, fumbled as he was going in for a score, but teammate Adryan Wessels beat a couple of Edgerton defenders to the ball for the touchdown. Cordell Harris added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

Buskager and Holden Howard then teamed up for a play that seemed to give the Crimson Tide the shot of confidence they needed.

Evansville used nine plays to drive from its 30 to the Edgerton 10 and looked on its way to regain the lead. But on third-and-one, the Edgerton line stuffed Harris for a 1-yard loss. On fourth-and-2, the Tide stopped Race Howlett for no gain to take over at the 11.

Appel gained six yards on first down. Buskager then dropped back and threw down the middle to Holden who caught the ball at the 40 and raced to and down the left sideline to complete the 83-yard scoring play.

Stowell’s kick gave the Crimson Tide a 14-7 lead when a few minutes before it appeared Evansville would have that advantage.

Evansville quarterback Matthew Wickersham seemed to give the Blue Devils a game-tying touchdown in the final minute of the half when he scrambled for several seconds before he found Howlett who completed the 23-yard touchdown reception. But while Wickersham scrambled, an offensive lineman ventured downfield which negated the score.

The students on the Crimson Tide bleachers chanted “overrated” when the lead stood up at halftime. Evansville, as expected, came out fired up for the third quarter.

The Blue Devils did tie the score, but it took the entire third quarter. With just five seconds left in the quarter, Keller ran in from seven yards out. Harris’ kick tied the score.

The packed Evansville bleachers plus fans that lined the fence on either side of the bleachers made it clear that they believed the Blue Devils were going to take command.

Buskager and the Edgerton offense didn’t flinch. They moved 70 yards in 14 plays, eating up 6 minutes and 21 seconds of the final quarter, with Buskager throwing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Appel to give the Crimson Tide the lead for good.

“It’s a credit to them,” Evansville coach Garth Coats said. “They played hungry from the start. They played harder than we did from start to finish.”

“They did not budge when momentum swayed to our side,” Coats said.

Both teams punted after Edgerton went ahead. Evansville took over at its 40 with 2:08 left in the game. The Blue Devils got to the Edgerton 38 when the Crimson Tide’s Logan Hammer picked off a third down pass with 50 seconds left.

Edgerton’s Eli Kittleson, who the Blue Devils keyed on the entire game, appeared to ice the victory when he swept 61 yards for a touchdown, but a holding call wiped out the gain and set up an unlikely final bit of drama.

On fourth-and-12 from the 34 with 29 seconds left and Evansville without a timeout, the snap flew over punter Malik Allen’s head. The ball rolled toward the goal line as Allen led a host of Evansville pursuers. Allen grabbed the ball and fell into the end zone as he was tackled by the Blue Devils’ Jake Soltis.

Evansville was awarded a safety when the Blue Devils could have recovered just outside the end zone or got to within a point by recovering it for a touchdown.

Stowell’s ensuing free kick from the Edgerton 20 bounded down to the Evansville 15 and was returned to the 24. Three incompletions ended the game.

“They made critical plays during the game, and we did not,” said Coats, whose team fell to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the Rock Valley.

“Our kids just never let it bother them,” Lietz said. “This was the first time I’ve seen these guys play unafraid. They played to win. This one I’m going to remember.”

EDGERTON 21, EVANSVILLE 16

Edgerton 0 14 0 7—21

Evansville 7 0 7 2—16

Scoring summary: Ev—Adryan Wessels, fumble recovery in end zone (Cordell Harris kick). Ed—Charlie Johnson, 25 pass from Brady Buskager (Anthony Stowell kick). Ed—Holden Howard, 83 pass from Brady Buskager (Stowell kick). Ev—Lincoln Keller, 7 run (Harris kick). Ed—Brett Appel, 4 pass from Buskager (Stowell kick). Ev—Safety, Jake Soltis tackled Malik Allen in end zone.

Statistics: First downs—Ed 10, Ev 17. Rushes-yards gained—Ed 23-26, Ev 38-220. Yards passing—Ed 236, Ev 84. Passing (comp.-att.-had int.)—Ed 11-21-0, Ev 7-24-3. Fumbles-lost—Ed 0-0, Ev 1-0. Penalties—Ed 6-60, Ev 7-65.

Individual leaders: Rushing—Ed Brett Appel 10-20, Ev Lincoln Keller 27-136. Receiving—Ed Holden Howard 2-103, Ev Karder Tway 3-42. Passing—Ed Brady Buskager 11-21-236 yards; Ev 7-24-84.