Anxiety-ridden finish

LAMONI — A frightening scene unfolded Friday night as East Union’s Matthew Wittstock gashed the Lamoni defense for a 6-yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 28-22 road win at Graceland University’s Huntsman Field in Lamoni Friday.

Wittstock’s touchdown capped a thrilling night, but the attention was directed to the East Union sideline where co-coach James Hardy lay flat on the ground, having collapsed in the final sequence.

Hardy was attended to by medical personnel, but lay motionless for an extended period of time.

He was able to communicate with first responders, and was conscious of his surroundings during the episode.

After being hooked up with IVs, Hardy was strapped upon a backboard and golf cart, where he was slowly walked over to the stadium entrance.

Around 30 minutes after the conclusion of the game, Decatur County Hospital responders arrived at the scene, and transported him to its medical facility, where he had the support of family and friends.

There, Hardy was treated for dehydration that worsened as a result of having the flu. He was released at 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning.

“It was a very scary situation,” East Union co-coach Craig Ditzler said.

The game was tight throughout the evening, causing the anxiety to reach a fever pitch.

East Union fell behind early when Lamoni’s Luke Jones found paydirt for an early 8-0 Demons lead.

No matter for the Eagles, they controlled the line of scrimmage in scoring the next two possessions with relative ease.

After the Lamoni touchdown drive, the Eagles forcefully advanced the ball down the gridiron. Sanden Cheers snuck the ball right up the gut for a short score, and then found Josh Hardy through the air for the conversion to make the score 8-8.

On the next Eagles drive, East Union hammered away at the run again, as a Wittstock run, followed by a Kole Seales 1-yard plunge pushed East Union ahead 14-8 with 2:01 to go in the first quarter.

Then, the stalemate began.

Neither team gained traction offensively for the majority of the second quarter. And the third quarter for that matter.

Big plays were non-existent, and defensive stops for short gains were the norm.

Lamoni’s best chance at scoring ended when

Matthew Wittstock recorded an interception in the end zone late in the second quarter. Dillon Weis picked off an acrobatic, juggling interception just a few minutes later to end the half.

East Union pulled off several fourth down stops defensively as the game wore on to the fourth.

Several dropped passes stalled Eagle drives.

The punting of Colton Abell, who averaged 37.5 yards per punt on five punts, helped the Eagles to keep field position to their advantage over large chunks of time.

“He’s worked hard going to a punting clinic in the offseason and he has done a lot and done a good job. That was key,” Ditzler said.

One miscue in the punting game did however allow Lamoni to have short field in the fourth.

The Demons used several runs and a Riley Schwab 4-yard rumble to tie the game at 14-14.

A bad snap/exchange to Cheers in the shotgun allowed the Demons to start their next drive on the Eagles’ 36.

Just when EU had Lamoni in position for a stop, Luke Jones found Riley Stevenson by the far left pylon for a score, to seize control, and a 22-14 lead with 4:57 to go in the fourth.

Given East Union’s struggles moving the ball since the first quarter, things didn’t seem overwhelmingly positive for the Eagles.

That didn’t bother Cheers, who scooped the ensuing kickoff and willed his way inside of the Lamoni 10.

Several plays later, Cheers snuck into the end zone. For the 2-point. conversion, the Eagles lined up three receivers to his right. He immediately bootlegged left, and beat all defenders to the far left pylon for the score.

East Union had one last chance to score after a Gavin Kline fumble recovery, but several passes near the Lamoni end zone fell incomplete.

Ditzler and his staff decided that if they won the overtime coin toss, that they would defer to have the ball second.

“The defense stepped up. They were all for it. They said ‘coach they’re not going to score.’”

In overtime, Josh Hardy broke up a Jones pass in the end zone, and the Eagles stopped Lamoni two yards short of the goal line to give them possession, after which Wittstock squirted through the Lamoni defense for the winning score.

UP NEXT — East Union (4-4, 2-3) will host Wayne (4-4, 2-3) for a chance to clinch its fourth consecutive winning record in the regular season.

“We know what it means to win these next two games,” Ditzler said. “It’s a big difference. It’s a winning record for these two seniors.”

Meanwhile, EU’s district rival, Lenox (5-3, 3-2) has a chance to get ​into the playoffs. A win for the Tigers next week at home over Lamoni, and a Bedford loss to 8-player District 6 top dog Stanton, would clinch a playoff spot for Lenox.

East Union 28, Lamoni 22

EU 14 0 0 8 6 28

Lam 8 0 14 0 22

1st quarter

Lam — Luke Jones 30 run (Conv. good), 8:40.

EU — Sanden Cheers 1 one run (Hardy pass from Cheers), 5:09.

EU — Kole Seales 1 run (Conv. no good) 2:01.

4th quarter

Lam — 4 run Riley Schwab (Conv. no good), 8:41.

Lam — Schwab 36 pass from Luke Jones (Jones run), 4:57

EU — Cheers 2 run (Cheers run), 3:33.

Overtime

EU — Wittstock 6 run.

Individual leaders

Rushing: EU — Kole Seales 10-65 1 TD, Matthew Wittstock 12-50 2 TDs, Josh Hardy 9-36, Sanden Cheers 9-19 1 TD.

Passing: EU — Cheers 3-13-0 31 yards.

Receiving: Josh Hardy 2-8, Levi Parrott 1-23.

Tackles (solo-assists): Seales 9-0, Cheers 6-6, Colton Abell 4-2, Wittstock 5-0, Dillon Weis 4-1, Hardy 4-0.

Interceptions: Weis 1 for 30 yards, Wittstock 1.

Fumble recoveries: EU — Gavin Kline 1.

Punting: EU — Abell 5-37.5 average.