Eisenhower's Nick Sefcovic looks for running room during a MAC Red Division game against host Stevenson Friday night.

Stevenson's Jordan Ramsey attempts to break away from a tackle attempt by Eisenhower's Brandon Ames during a MAC Red Division game at Stevenson Friday night.

Eisenhower’s Steven Nadolski made his presence felt in the fourth quarter, and Eisenhower still has a presence in the race for the football playoffs.

Nadolski, who didn’t have a carry through three quarters, ran for a  26-yard touchdown with 10:03 left that put Eisenhower in front 22-15. He then followed that with an interception, which set up an insurance four-yard touchdown run by  Nick Sefcovic, carrying the Eagles to a 29-15 MAC Red Division win over host Stevenson on Friday night.

“Steven’s been doing it all year on offense and defense for us,” Eagle coach Chris Smith said. “He’s been the star on both sides of the ball, and he’s been coming up with big plays and that’s the reason why he’s going to be a great player.”

“We have a lot of guys in our skill positions that can do a lot of great things for us,” Smith added. “It’s just a matter of finding the guy that’s on that day. We did that later in the second half.”

Nadolski’s final-quarter heroics proved to be the difference in what was a tight battle between the two rival schools.

Stevenson took a 7-0 second-quarter lead on a 20-yard TD run by quarterback Dylan Kleinedler, which was set up by a fumble recovery by Jordan Kwiatkowski. One of four takeaways for Stevenson in the game.

“We’re an opportunistic team and we were able to force some turnovers tonight,” Stevenson coach Justin Newcomb said. “We converted a few, but not enough in the game tonight. The penalties hurt us tonight. We kept shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Eisenhower tied the game on its ensuing possession when quarterback Blake Rastigue connected with Aiden Ives for a 6-yard scoring strike.

The Eagles took a 14-7 lead late in the first half when Mario Sumner scored on a 5-yard run.

“It’s Stevenson vs. Eisenhower and it’s their homecoming,” Smith said. “It’s both of our biggest rivals and we knew it was going to be a fight coming in here. They were well-prepared and outplayed us in a lot of ways. We were lucky to come out of here with a victory.”

Stevenson took the opening kick and ran off 10 minutes of the clock, but gave the ball back to Eisenhower on downs.

However early in the fourth quarter, Stevenson’s Nick Wingfield intercepted a pass and ran it back 40 yards for a touchdown. The Titans then converted the conversion on a fake field goal, going up 15-14 with 11:36 to play.

“I am proud of my kids tonight,” Newcomb said. “We came out and battled. Chris Smith does a great job coaching Eisenhower and they were prepared for us tonight. My kids fought to the end. We took a big step forward as a program tonight, and we’re excited about that.”

Rastigue completed 8-of-10 passes for 98 yards, while Mario Getaw led the ground attack with 65 yards on 11 rushes. The win improved the Eagles’ record to 3-2 overall, 2-1 league.

“It keeps us in playoff hunt and in the mix for the MAC Red,” Smith said. “A lot of things have to happen, though.”

Eisenhower, Dakota and Romeo have identical Red records. Chippewa Valley is in first place at 3-0.

Stevenson was led by Kwiatkowski with 49 yards on nine carries. The loss dropped the Titans’ record to 2-3 overall, 0-3 league.