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EDGERTON鈥擳he Evansville High football team was reminded at practice this past week that it was dominated last Friday night by Delavan-Darien.

The Blue Devils responded with a dominating performance of their own Friday night.

Evansville controlled both lines of scrimmage to defeat host Edgerton High 23-7 to spoil the Crimson Tide鈥檚 homecoming and take sole possession of second place in the Rock Valley Conference.

The Blue Devils, 4-1 in the Badger and 6-1 overall, clinched a WIAA playoff berth with the victory. Evansville will get the chance to move into a first-place tie next Friday when it hosts Badger Conference leading Monroe (5-0, 5-2).

Monroe defeated Delavan-Darien 28-13 Friday to remain alone in first place.

Evansville suffered its only loss of the season last Friday against Delavan-Darien 20-14 in the Comets鈥� homecoming game. Evansville coach Garth Coats was not pleased what he saw in that game.

鈥淲e were out-physicaled,鈥� Coats said.

That was not the case in Edgerton.

鈥淲e came in here and said, look, another opportunity, another homecoming game,鈥� Coats said. 鈥淲e set the tone right from the first drive.鈥�

鈥淲e took it to heart,鈥� junior lineman Tanner Zastoupil said. 鈥淲e came out flat last week and knew what we had to do. We got it done.鈥�

That started on the first drive of the game after Edgerton received the kickoff.

Evansville junior Mason Brown jumped in front of an Edgerton receiver to pick off a pass on the third play of the game to give his offense the ball at the Blue Devils 35.

A delay of game penalty moved the ball back to the 30. From there, the visitors ran 12 plays to cover those 70 yards, overcoming a holding penalty. Sophomore quarterback Matt Wickersham found sophomore Karter Tway open down the middle from 38 yards out to cap the drive. Cordell Harris kicked the first of his three successful conversions to put Evansville ahead 7-0 with 3:412 left in the quarter.

Edgerton gained two first downs on its ensuing possession but a bad snap cost the Crimson Tide seven yards and forced a punt.

This time, it took the Blue Devils eight plays to go 79 yards for their second touchdown. Sophomore running back Harker Larsen bulled is way into the end zone from two yards away. Harris鈥� kick sent the Blue Devils ahead 14-0 with 8:16 left in the first half.

Edgerton answered with a long drive of its own and a 40-yard completion from junior quarterback Brett Appel to sophomore receiver Eli Kittleson gave the Crimson Tide a first down at the Evansville 14.

But Edgerton fumbled, and Evansville鈥檚 Carter Kleisch recovered at the 12. Edgerton finally forced a punt and drove 46 yards in the final 1:05 to cut the Blue Devils鈥� lead in half.

Appel completed an 18-yard pass to Jack Fox for the initial first down on the drive and later found Kyler Knauf for 14 yards on a fourth-and-13 play to put the ball on the Evansville 13 with 13 seconds left in the half.

On the next play, Appel drifted to his right and found Fred Geiger-Kittel on the right side of the end zone. Noah Knilans converted the extra point.

The Blue Devils dominated the second half. Larsen capped a 12-play, 55-yard drive on the first possession of the final 24 minutes with a two-yard dive into the end zone on fourth-and-goal.

The Blue Devils鈥� defense contributed the final Blue Devils鈥� score when Appel was forced to toss the ball forward while in the grasp of two Evansville pass rushers in his end zone in the fourth quarter. He was flagged for intentional grounding, which resulted in a safety.

Both Larsen and junior Lincoln Keller had 100-yard rushing games.

鈥淲e challenged the line on both sides of the ball,鈥� Coats said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we hung our hat on the first five games of the season, being physical.鈥�

That returned after the loss at Delavan last week.

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 be prouder of the way they responded,鈥� Coats said.

Keller credited the guys up front after he rushed for 100 yards on 21 carries.

鈥淚t was definitely our line,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey work hard every week.鈥�

Larsen finished with 101 yards rushing on 18 carries and added 60 yards on five receptions.

鈥淲e weren鈥檛 ready to play last week,鈥� Larsen said. 鈥淣ow we just have to come out next week.鈥�

Edgerton coach Russ Lietz said Evansville controlled the line of scrimmage.

鈥淏oth their offensive and defensive lines took it to us,鈥� Lietz said. 鈥淲e knew they were big and were going to lean on us. They did just that.鈥�

The Crimson Tide fell into a third-place tie with Delavan-Darien with 3-2 conference marks.

鈥淲e have to keep focused because we still have a chance to make the playoffs.鈥�

The Crimson Tide might follow the course Evansville took to make that a reality.

EVANSVILLE 23, EDGERTON 7

Evansville;7;7;7;2;--23

Edgerton;0;7;0;0---7

First Quarter

Ev鈥擪arter Tway, 38 pass from Matt Wickersham (Cordell Harris kick).

Second Quarter

Ev鈥擧arker Larsen, 2 run (Harris kick).

Ed鈥擣red Geiger-Kettel, 13 pass from Brett Appel (Noah Knilans kick).

Third Quarter

Ev鈥擫arsen, 2 run (Harris kick)

Fourth Quarter

Ev鈥擲afety, Edgerton quarterback called for intentional grounding in end zone.

Team statistics: First downs鈥擡v 18, Ed 9. Rushes-yards鈥擡v 45-167, Ed 22-34. Yards passing鈥擡v 129, Ed 116. Passing (comp.-att,-had inter.)鈥擡v 8-12-1, Ed 8-16-1. Fumbles-lost鈥擡v 3-0, Ed 3-1. Penalties鈥擡v 5-50, Ed 3-23.

Individual leaders: Rushing鈥擡v Harker Larsen 18-101, Lincoln Keller 21-100; Ed Juan Tobias 7-23. Receiving鈥擡v Karter Tway 4-65, Harker Larsen 5-60; Ed Eli Kittleson 2-44, Kyler Knauf 2-32. Passing鈥擡v Matt Wickersham 8-12-129 yards; Ed Brett Appel 8-14-116 yards.

DEFOREST 鈥� Failing to go up by two touchdowns late in the first half almost ended up costing Milton a victory against Badger Large Conference foe DeForest Friday night, but the Red Hawks rallied for a late touchdown and a escaped with a 21-17 victory at DMB Stadium.

WHITEWATER -- For four seasons, Jace Rindahl and Peter Jennings were on the same staff as coaches for Whitewater鈥檚 football program.

Now, in his second year as head coach of the Warhawks (2-1), Rindahl is preparing to face Jennings, who鈥檚 in his third year calling the shots for the UW-Oshkosh Titans (2-1) Saturday 1 p.m. at Perkins Stadium.