Lions’ defense roars with another solid effort
NEW BERLIN – Jack Himmelspach had just wrapped up another big day against another key rival, but New Berlin Eisenhower’s junior running back was talking defense after his team's 31-0 victory Friday over Greendale at home.
“Our defense has stepped up in all games,” he said. “Our varsity defense has pitched a shutout all three (conference) games and then we put the JV in. Our defense has really held it down for us all season now.”
The Lions unit, which shut out Pewaukee for three quarters two weeks ago and held Wisconsin Lutheran scoreless in the first half last week, did another fine job in their biggest game to date. Their victory over Greendale coupled with Pewaukee’s victory over New Berlin West leaves Eisenhower (4-0, 3-0 Woodland West) as the only undefeated team left in the division.
The only opponent with a legitimate chance to knock them off their path to the division title is rival New Berlin West, which comes to Eisenhower for their annual grudge match Friday.
Here are five takeaways from the game.
UP THE GUT: The line often doesn’t get credit, but the unit comprised of seniors Dylan Abbott, Devyn Schlicht, Seth Luckman, junior Mark Schields and sophomore Issac Freichels opened big holes for Himmelspach on the Lions’
first two possessions. Those plays paved the way for touchdowns and set the tone for the night.
A 20-yard run by Himmelspach gave the team a first and goal at the 3 and led to Himmelspach’s first score of the day, which gave Eisenhower an early lead with 7 minutes, 37 seconds left in the quarter.
On the next possession he appeared to break loose up the middle on the same play. This time he wouldn’t stop until he reached the end zone. The 25-yard play, plus the extra point, gave the Lions a 14-0 lead with 4:43 left in the quarter.
“I think it’s just execution against the fronts we were seeing,” Eisenhower coach Matt Kern said.
“Greendale does a good job of mixing up their looks. They’re aggressive off the line of scrimmage. We talk to our guys a lot about communication, making sure they’re sorting through what they’re seeing and once they were able to do that, we were able to break some things.”
BIG-GAME JACK: Himmelspach finished with 124 yards and three touchdowns in 17 carries, meaning he has come up huge in the team’s biggest games to date. He had a season-best 141 in a victory over Pewaukee on Aug. 25. On Friday, he had 103 yards in 11 carries in the first half.
SLOW START: While Eisenhower was starting fast, Greendale did itself no favors with a handful of mistakes in the first quarter that prevented it from moving the ball.
Its first possession was stalled due to an offside penalty on second and 2 and then a dropped pass on third down. Its second possession ended in three and out after an offside penalty on second and 3. And yet another offside penalty stalled the team’s third possession.
The mental errors weren’t limited to the offense. Late in the first quarter, the Panthers needed a timeout after failing to line up properly. The extra time didn’t matter, though. On the next play, senior running back Jake Belongia snuck behind the defense for a 55yard reception that was brought back 10 yards due to an illegal block penalty.
GOAL-LINE STAND: Shut outs are hard to come by and teams usually need a big play or two to make them happen.
Eisenhower's big moment in that regard came in the fourth quarter with Greendale making its best drive of the game. The Panthers had moved the ball 84 yards in 15 plays. On the 16th, a fourth-and-goal situation at the 1, Lions senior Max Tippel forced a fumble that Himmelspach recovered in the end zone for a touchback.
WOUNDED: It probably wouldn't have made a difference in the outcome, but it was hard not to notice the number of wounded walking the Greendale sideline. The big loss was all-conference defensive end Ricky Rosales, who has been out with a knee injury all season. The team also played without senior defensive lineman Jaelen Johnson, who watched the game on crutches with his left leg in a brace.