Waterloo jumped all over Triad early in the first quarter Friday night, but a few mental mistakes allowed the Knights back in the game. The ‘Dogs didn’t give up and put together two impressive late drives to beat Triad, 28-27, and keep hopes of a playoff berth alive.

Waterloo (4-4, 3-2 MVC) was up 14-0 in the first quarter, but wouldn’t score again until the fourth, when Zach Schaab followed a 45-yard TD pass to Reid Hoffmann with a 1-yard run he took in himself with 1:41 left in the game to take the 28-27 lead.

“This was just like the Jerseyville game, but we won.” said head coach Dan Rose after the game. “We made the plays at the end of the game that we needed to make for the win.”

The Dupo Tigers (4-4, 3-3 CC) were also looking to keep playoff hopes alive when they hosted Freeburg for their senior night. Running back Tyler Barnes scored three of the Tigers TDs, and quarterback Brett Aldridge carried in two more, while the Tigers’ defense held the Midgets to fewer than 20 yards in the second half for a final score of 44-26.

The Columbia Eagles (8-0, 6-0 CC) traveled to Red Bud, where they handily won 50-24 over the Musketeers (3-5, 1-5 CC). Camren Shewfelt scored three of the Eagles’ TDs, with Lou Isringhaus (2), Jacob Hill (1) and Nathan Schnaak (1) notching the rest.

As the regular season wraps up next week, Waterloo will host Mater Dei (5-3) while Columbia travels to Nashville (2-6), Dupo plays at Pinckneyville (4-4), and Red Bud (3-5) hosts Sparta (1-7).

Additional reporting by Andrea Degenhart