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Brodhead/Juda gets hard-hitting win over Evansville

BRODHEAD — The Brodhead/Juda-Evansville football rivalry may not hold as much significance as it once did, but it’s still as emotional as it is physically intense.

After nearly three hours of hard hitting, Brodhead/Juda limped off the field victorious over longtime rival Evansville, 35-29, in a Rock Valley Conference crossover slugfest here Friday night.

David Earleywine fired touchdown passes of 63 and 55 yards and added a game-clinching 7-yard touchdown run in the fourth to seal the Brodhead victory. The Cardinals (2-2, 1-1) own a 19-18 all-time series lead over Evansville (2-2, 0-2).

The Blue Devils, who fell behind 21-3 in the first half, stormed back with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to draw to within six. Evansville had a chance to tie on its last possession before finally falling short.

“It is always intense (against Evansville), including last year when we won 21-7,” Brodhead/Juda coach Jim Matthys said. “This one went right down to the wire, and you have to take your hats off to Evansville who fought right down to the wire.”

The Blue Devil resolve in defeat impressed coach Ron Grovesteen.

“We all want to win, and our kids never gave up, even with the mistakes that we made,” Grovesteen said. “We hung in there and had a chance to win.”

The Cardinals didn’t waste time capitalizing on Evansville mistakes. Earleywine took full advantage of Evansville blown coverages with two touchdown passes of 63 and 55 yards to Levi Frost to help give the home team a 21-3 lead with 53 seconds left in the first half.

The Blue Devils responded quickly, and finished off the half in style with backup quarterback David Jenkins’ 6-yard touchdown pass to Dan Walczak. The TD made it 21-10 at half.

Jenkins took over for starter Ryan Cashore in the first half and threw for 247 yards and a pair of touchdown passes.

“David did a nice job along with Dalton Sendelbach at fullback to keep us in the game,” Grovesteen said.

The Blue Devils stayed right on the Cardinals’ heels in the second half. After Jesse DeLorme’s 2-yard touchdown run made 28-10, Sendelbach responded with a 38-yard touchdown run, followed by Jenkins’ 17-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Weaver to cut the deficit to just 28-23 late in the third.

After the teams traded fourth-quarter touchdowns, Evansville had one last shot to drive 78 yards in 53 seconds.

At that point, the game was stopped for 15 minutes after Brodhead/Juda lineman Conner Olsen was carried off the field in a stretcher. Olsen showed movement as he was wheeled away, but his status is uncertain.

Evansville then drove inside the 35 before time ran out.

“We obviously had a couple injuries that hurt us.” Matthys said. “But our kids found a way to win and fought.”

BRODHEAD/JUDA 35, EVANSVILLE 29

Evansville 3 7 13 6—29

Brodhead/Juda 7 14 7 7—35

Scoring summary: EV—Field goal, Austin Hill, 27 yards. BJ—Jesse DeLorme, 2 run (Josh Dougherty kick). BJ –Levi Frost, 63 pass from David Earleywine (Dougherty kick). BJ—Frost 55 pass from Earleywine (Dougherty kick). EV—Dan Walczak, 6 pass David Jenkins (Hill kick). BJ—DeLorme, 2 run (Dougherty kick). EV-Dalton Sendelbach, 38 run (Hill kick). EV—Ryan Weaver, 17 pass from Jenkins (run failed). BJ—Earleywine, 7 run (Dougherty kick). EV—Owen Schoenberger, 13 pass from Jenkins (kick failed).

Statistics: First downs—EV 22, BJ 19. Yards Rushing—EV 36-174, BJ 40-279. Yards passing—EV 272, BJ 130. Passes—EV 32-21-1 BJ 6-3-0. Fumbles—EV 3-1, BJ 2-2. Penalties—EV 5-40, BJ 5-45.