Ike Defeats Stevenson As Fans Delight in Rivalry

It was only one minute into the game and Stevenson High School was forced to punt from within its own 15 yard line.  The snap is good, the kicker winds up … and the punt is blocked!  Eisenhower senior defensive end Dominic DiClemente recovered the ball and ran it in for a touchdown.

It was this play that set the tone for the Thursday night game and propelled on to win 35-0 over the Stevenson Titans, their biggest rival. 

The teams went back and forth with some big plays in the first quarter as Stevenson recovered their own punt and Ike had an interception.  But it was the Eisenhower Eagles that prevailed with another touchdown by junior running back Shane King with a little over a minute to play to make it 14-0.

And King and the Eagles just kept on rolling into the second quarter with another touchdown just a couple of minutes in.  Although the Titans were able to make several first downs and senior quarterback John Carlin connected on a couple of passes, Stevenson struggled to get their offense going.

Eisenhower, on the other hand, had no problem with this. Despite playing on Stevenson’s home turf, the Eagles had a strong running game from several players, including junior running back Storm Hudson, senior running back Alfonso Vultaggio and even junior quarterback Joe Zerafa ran to advance the ball on several plays. 

Ike finished the second quarter strong with two more touchdowns with less than four minutes in the half. The first was by senior running back Orlando Meeks and then Zerafa connected with Hudson in the end zone for the second. The half finished with the Eagles up 35-0 over the Titans.

The second half remained scoreless, but Eisenhower still dominated the game as the team maintained most of the possession and Stevenson could not seem to escape the Eagle’s defensive pressure. Coming in as the preseason favorites, the Ike team looks to be coming together nicely and have their sights set on the title.

And there to help and cheer along the way is the Eisenhower student section.  This rivalry between these two teams does not just stop on the field but carries on up to the bleachers and the fans. 

“Ike and Stevenson really don’t like each other,” said Kelsie, a senior Stevenson student.  “They were our biggest rival a couple years ago and they’re still our biggest rival so we go all out for Ike.”

Going all out includes body paint, shakers and bells, signs and the Titan fans even have shirts that say “Crush Ike.”  But most of the time, it’s just about numbers.  The student sections compete to see how many people they can get to come to the game and support the team.

This game, it looks like Ike one.  Throughout the game, the Eagle fans kept chanting things such as “this is our house” and “we can’t hear you” to the Titan student section. 

“It’s all of us, we all do it,” said senior Eisenhower student Jake Zott.  “If one person is doing it then it doesn’t matter.  We’ve got to have everyone.”

Fans from both teams said it would have been a better game and there would have been better student representation if the game had been later in the year.  But regardless of the time, the Ike fans are excited at the outcome and the Stevenson fans are determined to keep cheering.

This gets the Eagles off to a great season start, now at 2-0.  The Titans unfortunately drop to 0-2 with this loss but hope to change that next week when they take on Waterford Mott.  will be battling Romeo to keep their early winning record.