EVANSVILLE — Monroe entered its Week 8 Rock Valley Conference game in a high-stakes situation. If the Cheesemakers won, they’d claim their fourth straight conference title. But Evansville, hyped by their Homecoming festivities, could earn a share of the league title with a victory.

“With this league, it’s one week to the next. I don’t get a good read or vibe on this team. Homecoming for them and a chance to beat us to be co-champions,” Monroe head coach Tom Witt said. “We knew, going into this, if we didn’t want to share it, we had to take care of business. They knew the situation.”

But that didn’t mean the game was easy. In fact, it came down to the wire. 

Up one score with four minutes left, Monroe watched as Karder Tway dropped a fourth-and-10 touchdown pass from Matthew Wickersham, the ball glancing off his finger tips.

“It feels so amazing,” senior Seth Schmidt said of securing the conference title. “That last play was crazy. Words can’t even describe it. It was such a hard-fought battle by both teams. I’m so happy we came out on top.”

At first, it appeared as though Evansville was going to snap Monroe’s conference 26-game winning streak. After back-to-back first down runs by Joe Rufenacht and Cam Newcomer, Monroe came up empty in its first possession.

The Blue Devils then took advantage of miscommunication on the Cheesemaker defense to score. Evansville shifted its formation and only some Monroe defenders changed coverage, leaving a gaping hole in the defense. Matthew Wickersham connected with a wide-open Tway to take a 6-0 lead, as the PAT was no good.

On its next drive, Monroe overcame two penalties to keep the possession alive. Rufenacht had a 14-yard rush, and Nathan Fuchs picked up a first down with an 18-yard gain. Seth Schmidt’s run set up a Cheesemaker first-and-goal at the 9-yard line. Monroe gained minimal yardage on the ground and passed on fourth-and-2 — right into the arms of Tway.

“We were trying to catch them off guard,” Witt said of the passing play, figuring Evansville would anticipate Monroe to run the ball yet again. The Cheesemakers are ranked No. 11 in the state for team rushing yards at 2,458. “It was a different play that we put in this week. We hadn’t run it in the short-yard situation; it was always in the open field. That’s a score we probably should have had in the first half.”

And Evansville’s six-point lead held through the first half. It wasn’t that Monroe lacked effort — Aaron Benzschawel and Payton Weckerly had tackles for losses and the Cheesemakers stopped the Blue Devils just outside the red zone — the team just didn’t look like itself.

“We had to bring the energy; that’s the No. 1 thing Coach Witt said,” Schmidt said about the halftime pep talk. “We had no energy. We were working hard, but we had no energy. We came in the second half with energy and came out with the dub.”

Right out of the gate, on its first drive of the second half, Monroe scored. Jacob Flom and Fuchs split the carries, and an offsides call on the Blue Devils set the Cheesemakers up at the 4-yard line. After getting stopped at the line of scrimmage, Rufenacht punched the ball in on his second carry to tie the game at 6-6. Schmidt’s PAT was no good, maintaining the draw.

Six plays later, Monroe got the ball back as Peyton Herbst stripped the ball from Matthew Wickersham and a teammate recovered near midfield. Rushes from Newcomer and Rufenacht set up a first-and-goal at the 9-yard line, where Flom took it home for the go-ahead touchdown. This time, Schmidt’s PAT was successful, making it a 13-6 game.

Nearing the end of the third quarter, Race Howlett returned Schmidt’s punt to the 38-yard line. After a short 3-yard gain by Lincoln Keller, Andrew Wickersham caught a pass from Matthew Wickersham, broke a tackle and ran 20-yards upfield for a first down. Another first-down pass — this time to Tway — set up a first-and-goal at the 10-yard line. Keller capped the drive with a TD rush, and Cordell Harris’ PAT knotted the game at 13-13.

With 9:19 left in the game to respond, Witt never doubted his team, even when it didn’t score on the following possession. Instead, the defense backed up its offense. Rufenacht stopped Keller at the line of scrimmage and two incomplete passes later — pinned deep in their zone — the Blue Devils punted from their own end zone.

“The defense definitely stepped up,” Witt said. “They made the plays that needed to be done.”

Monroe didn’t return the ball, which landed at the Blue Devil 37-yard line. Four plays later, Bryce Roelli found Aaron Benzschawel in the end zone for a touchdown — just the fifth passing touchdown of the season for the Cheesemakers.

Evansville had just under four minutes to go the length of the field to score, and the Blue Devils attempted to do so through the air. Matthew Wickersham completed an 18-yard pass to Harker Larsen to charge into enemy territory. With a fresh set of downs, Wickersham threw four incomplete passes with Will Keehn and Schmidt covering intended receiver Tway.

“I’m thinking I’ve got to do my job and everyone else has to do their job,” Schmidt said of the final moments. “If we do that, we’ll be fine. That’s what happened there in the end.”

Fuchs put the nail in the coffin with back-to-back first-down rushes, as Evansville used only one of its remaining two timeouts to stop the clock. With 32 ticks on the clock, Roelli knelt out.

Monroe looks to keep its undefeated Rock Valley Conference record alive with a Week 9 game against East Troy (1-5). Last season, the Trojans did not have a season due to low numbers.