Eagles fall in overtime

For a few fabulous minutes, it appeared this was finally going to be Sauk Prairie’s night. The Eagles’ football team — searching for their first win of the year — led host Sussex Hamilton, 21-14, late last Friday night. Unfortunately for Sauk Prairie, though, the Chargers rallied to force overtime and eventually came away with a 27-21 win. Sauk Prairie fell to 0-8, while Sussex Hamilton improved to 2-6. Things certainly looked good for the Eagles when Tyler Uselman had a 4-yard touchdown run with 8 minutes left to give Sauk Prairie a 21-14 lead. But Sussex Hamilton — which has 550 more students than Sauk Prairie — battled back. Chargers running back Alex Eichmann ran for a 10-yard score with 1 minute, 38 seconds left, and the extra point forced overtime. In the extra session, Hamilton sophomore quarterback Nate Kollath had a 7-yard touchdown run. And when the Eagles couldn’t score, the Chargers escaped with a hard earned win. The wild ending capped a terrific game that the Eagles were in from start to finish. Hamilton took a 7-0 lead just more than 2 minutes into the game when running back Luke Wroblewski ripped off a 7-yard touchdown run. Wroblewski was a problem for the Eagles all night, as he rolled up 111 of Hamilton’s 263 rushing yards. Sauk Prairie battled back, though, and took an 8-7 lead midway through the second quarter. Quarterback Damien Wright-Rodriguez hit Ethan Gibbs for a 6-yard touchdown, and Owen Diehl ran in the two-point conversion to put the Eagles on top. Hamilton responded with a 9-yard touchdown run by Kollath with 2:49 left in the half to regain a 14-8 edge. But Sauk Prairie struck again with just 22 seconds left in the half when Wright-Rodriguez hit Diehl for a 26-yard touchdown and a 15-14 Eagles’ lead at halftime. After a scoreless third quarter, Uselman scored early in the fourth quarter to give Sauk Prairie a 21-14 lead. But the extra point failed, the Eagles’ couldn’t muster any more offense, and the Chargers refused to die. Wright-Rodriguez had a terrific game in defeat, throwing for 110 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Uselman led the Eagles’ ground game with 104 rushing yards on 16 carries (6.5 average), while Wright-Rodriguez had 55 rushing yards of his own.   Nov. 13 SUSSEX HAMILTON 27, SAUK PRAIRIE 21 (OT) Sauk Prairie .... 0 15 0 6 0— 21 Hamilton .......... 7 7 0 7 6 — 27 SH: Wroblewski 7 run (Hennings kick), 9:45 SP: Gibbs 6 pass from Wright-Rodriguez (Diehl run), 6:19 SH: Kollath 9 run (Hennings kick), 2:49 SP: Diehl 26 pass from Wright-Rodriguez (Brickl kick), 0:22 SP: Uselman 4 run (run failed), 8:00 SH: Eichmann 2 run (Hennings kick), 1:38 SH: Kollath 7 run     TEAM STATISTICS First downs — SP 15, SH 24. Rushing (Att.-Yds.) — SP 40-205; SH 46-263. Passing yards — SP 110; SH 113. Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) — SP 7-15-0; SH 10-18-0. Penalties-yards — SP 4-55; SH 6-40. Fumbles-lost — SP 0-0; SH 2-2. INDIVIDUAL LEADERS Rushing — SP: Uselman 16-104; Wright-Rodriguez 13-55; SH: Wroblewski 16-111. Passing — SP: Wright-Rodriguez 7-14-2-110; SH: Quella 6-9-0-93. Receiving — SP: Diehl 3-41; K. Breunig 1-47; SH: Baldewicz 4-67.