Eisenhower got a little defensive on Friday night.

The Eagles defense resembled a brick wall against visiting Rochester Adams, blanking the Highlanders 24-0 in a Division 1 district semifinal contest at Utica’s Swinehart Field.

“This defense has been doing it all year,” Eisenhower coach Chris Smith said. “I’ve been impressed more and more every time I watch them on film. I’m excited to move on and get a playoff win.”

After stopping the Highlanders on the opening drive, Eisenhower took a 3-0 lead when Nicholas Honaker booted a 26-yard field goal.

“You want to always score first, but especially against a team that can run the ball like Adams can,” Smith said. “Getting that first score was important, and then stopping them right after was big. Our defense came up big in that first drive after they drove it down there a little bit.”

Adams drove deep into Eisenhower territory on its ensuing drive, but the Eagle defense ended that drive when Cameron Ledbetter intercepted a pass.

“We just made mistakes all night,” Rochester Adams coach Tony Patritto said. “We really stopped ourselves and didn’t play clean on offense. We put our defense in bad situations all night. You can’t do that.”

Late in the second quarter, the Eagles extended their lead to 10-0 when quarterback Blake Rastigue connected with Ethan Barker for an 8-yard score with 1:05 left before halftime.

The Eagles added two insurance scores in the second half as Rastigue hooked up with Barker again for a 36-yard touchdown pass, before tacking on his third TD pass of the game on a 4-yard scoring strike to Mario Getaw.

“It was a great team effort,” Smith said. “Our offense has been clicking lately and our defense has been playing great all year. I thought we weren’t very good on special teams, and it’s something we have to work on for next week. Overall the effort was outstanding.”

Rastigue finished the night, completing 13-of-17 passes for 195 yards and three TD passes.

“He was outstanding,” Smith said. “Early in the game he wasn’t stepping into his throws really well, but he did much better in the second, third and fourth quarters.”

Getaw led the rushing attack with 43 yards on 11 rushes, while Steven Nadolski had four receptions for 63 yards.

“(Eisenhower) didn’t do anything that we didn’t think they would do,” Patritto said. “They’re good at what they do, and we made mistakes. We gave them the game.”

The win improved the Eagles’ record to 8-2 overall and moved them into next Friday night’s district championship game against the winner of Friday night’s game between Lake Orion and Stoney Creek.

“We’re going to enjoy a playoff win tonight,” Smith said. “Then we will watch some film on Saturday and watch it with the team on Sunday. Tonight, we’re going to enjoy this one.”

Adams was paced by quarterback Carter Farris, who completed 12-of-29 passes for 97 yards. Griffin Henke added 39 yards rushing on six carries. The loss ended the Highlanders’ season at 7-3 overall.

“They’re great kids and they worked their butts off all summer,” Patritto said of his team. “We play one of the toughest schedules in the state, and to get here, I am proud of them. It’s hard to play so badly in your last game.