Times Observer Photo by Steve Younger Eisenhower’s Benji Bauer broke the Knights’ single-season rushing record last week.

Eisenhower has a lot to play for tonight.

The Knights are 9-0 and have earned the title of District 10 Region 1 champions, but be around the football team for just a short time and they want more than that.

Much more.

Eisenhower will be facing a 2-6 Girard team that has athletes on both sides of the ball and has been in position to win a few more games but mistakes at the wrong time have crippled them.

That’s not lost on Knights head coach Jim Penley.

“Girard has played some games where they were much more competitive than the final score indicated, but it’s really been an issue of making crucial mistakes at the wrong time,” he said.

Over the course of the past two weeks, Eisenhower has won both games they’ve played despite the flu limiting their numbers at practice and that has carried in to this week, but Penley hopes to be back at full strength tonight.

The Knights have guaranteed themselves a spot in the District 10 playoffs and preliminary indications have them, by virtue of their record, a bye in the first round of the playoffs. The District 10 playoff selection committee is meeting Saturday to finalize the teams that have earned the opportunity to play.

Eisenhower’s defense continues to leave its mark on opponents as it has proven to be an opportunistic group with 12 interceptions on the season, led by Junior Shawn Pascuzzi with five. They had three interceptions against Iroqouis last week, two by Pascuzzi, including one returned for a touchdown, and one by Benji Bauer. Meanwhile, the Knights’ offense doesn’t turn the ball over as Pascuzzi has thrown only one interception from his quarterback spot.

Eisenhower’s defense has been stellar up to this point and held Iroqouis to less than 100 yards of total offense last week.

“(Girard) has a nice, physical group of ballplayers that get off the ball quickly,” Penley said. Their quarterback is very athletic and can make some tough plays. All of their running backs are hard-nosed runners. They just haven’t been able to get in the open much this year. We have to be ready for anything from them.”

Bauer, the Knights’ tailback, broke the single-season rushing mark last week and will be looking to add to that total tonight.

“Girard is a team that has been steadily improving week to week, as they gave General McLane fits last week,” Penley said. “We have to be ready.”

Eisenhower would like nothing more to finish the regular season with a win and a 10-0 record.

“We know this is a big game from a pride standpoint,” Penley said. “I’m sure they want to finish their season strong with a win. We want to win the game and be able to continue to improve as a team for the playoffs.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.