Eisenhower’s football team spends a third of its practice time on special teams.

That paid off in a big way Friday night when the 3-0 Eagles opened the Macomb Area Conference Red Division season with a 28-7 win against Romeo.

Eisenhower’s last two touchdowns came from special teams. A blocked field goal by Conner Temple set up a 75-yard return by Jimmy McGuire. Late in the fourth quarter, punter Gabriel Pettypool scooped up a low snap and ran 65 yards for the game’s final touchdown.

“We emphasize our special teams just like we do our offense and defense,” said Eagles coach Chris Smith. “We spend as much time on special teams as we do every other phase of the game.

“We have a lot of great players that pay attention to those little details.”

Temple said that when special teams practice starts, the first order of business is to work on blocking PATs and field goals.

“We practice left block, right block, middle,” said the senior, who has committed to play football at Grand Valley State University. “I’m the guy that usually occupies the wing and the guy on my outside is supposed to come in and block it.

“Tonight I jumped the gap and got free. I jumped up with my hands up and blocked it.”

McGuire, who would normally be the one to block the kick, scooped up the loose ball and ran for the touchdown that gave Eisenhower a 21-7 lead.

“It was an awesome play,” Temple said. “Coach (Travis) Multhaupt, who works with the special teams, always tells us it’s a whole third of the game. That’s where a lot of games are won. Tonight is a prime example.”

This was Romeo’s annual Watchdog game. It’s the night that the players, cheerleaders, dance team and band perform for someone who has battled cancer. This was the 15th year the game has been played and the event has raised more that $600,000 for cancer research.

The Bulldogs started the game strong, forcing Eisenhower to punt on its first possession. Romeo then drove 66 yards in 16 plays and scored on a short pass from Sammy Nepa to Brody Meier.

The lead held until the Eagles scored on a 7-yard run by Keaton Duda with 2:34 left in the first half. It was set up by a 22-yard pass from Jack Bullock to Pettypool.

“Our kids played hard,” said Romeo coach Curt Rienas. “You’re playing a game where you’re representing family members who have gone through some real struggles. I challenged them to bring that kind of passion and they did. I was proud of their effort and we executed pretty well in the first half.

“In the second half their speed showed up. That was the ball game.”

Eisenhower’s defense forced a three-and-out to start the second half. The Eagles got the ball on their 35-yard line and took the lead on a 1-yard run by Bullock. A key play in the drive was a 20-yard pass from Bullock to Temple.

“We’re so used to playing Romeo and it being a tight game in the third quarter,” Smith said. “Then they take that whole third quarter and just drive the ball down your throat. We came out with a real heavy set to try and stop them.”

A lot of players contributed on offense. Smith said that is one of the traits of this year’s team.

“We have a lot of stars, kids who can make plays for the team,” he said. “It makes it tough for defenses. If they try to stop one kid, we’ve got two, three or four more we can go to. Romeo did a great job in the first half. They slowed everything down. In the second half we were able to make a couple big plays that were the difference in the game.”

The game had a bit of a revenge factor for Eisenhower — Romeo cost the Eagles the outright MAC Red championship last year when the Bulldogs handed them their only league loss.

“Last year we were co-champs. Romeo was the reason we didn’t win it alone,” Temple said. “Winning tonight gives us something we can build on and hopefully, we can win the MAC again.”

The loss dropped Romeo to 0-3 but Rienas found some encouragement in Friday’s game.

“We had a tough start (losses to Lake Orion and Grosse Pointe South) and (now we) jump into the MAC Red and it doesn’t get any easier,” he said. “We have so many first-year varsity players so there’s a lack of confidence. Some guys were questioning themselves. I thought that was better tonight.

“We’ve given up big plays on defense and we haven’t moved the ball consistently on offense. Tonight we did better trying to stay ahead of the chains.”