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Edison surges by Oak Glen

Oak Glen makes a tackles against Edison (Matthew Peaslee)

RICHMOND — Big plays made the difference.

Sophomore standout River Pappas produced the two biggest plays of the game for the Edison football team against Oak Glen enabling the Wildcats to tally for a 19-14 victory Friday night at Cartwright Memorial Field.

“That is what it boils down to,” Edison (3-3) head coach Derrick Stickles said about his team making a couple more big plays in the game than Oak Glen. “We made some mistakes. In the first half, our pursuit angles were not good, and that allowed them to gain yardage on their toss plays.”

Pappas put the Wildcats out in front with a 39-yard touchdown run with 4:45 left to play in the game, and he recovered a fumble on the Golden Bears’ next offensive possession to thwart a potential game-winning drive by Oak Glen.

“It was an exciting high school football game,” first-year Oak Glen (1-5) head coach Ted Arneault Jr. said. “I am proud of the way we played. They did the best they could do. It was a total-team effort tonight.”

Trailing by a point in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats were backed up to their own 13 after a 61-yard punt. The Wildcats methodically drove the ball down the field before Pappas broke through the Oak Glen for the game-winning touchdown.

“A win is always nice,” Stickles said. “We needed to get this win to move forward. Being from Oak Glen, this win does tastes a little sweeter. We needed this win tonight. The kids stepped up.”

Offensively, Edison amassed 315 yards on 59 plays. The Wildcats rushed for 289 yards and three touchdowns on 54 carries, while throwing for 26 yards.

The hosts totaled 19 first downs, committed six penalties for 60 yards and fumbled once, losing it.

Finally, the boys from Jefferson County punted three times for an average of 29.33 yards per punt.

“In the first half, we beat ourselves,” Stickles said. “We gave them some opportunities due to some penalties. When you give teams opportunities because of penalties they are going to take advantage of them, and they did.”

Individually, quarterback Joey Nave ran for 42 yards and seven carries and completed 4 of 5 passes for 26 yards.

Also on the ground, Seth Cade carried the ball 30 times for 157 yards and a touchdown, Pappas produced 82 yards on 14 carries and Chris Kosegi recorded eight yards and a touchdown on three carries.

“River did a great job running the ball, and Seth did not do a bad job either,” Stickles said. “I like the mix we had. We were able to run the ball a lot, and I am very pleased with how we blocked up front.”

Cade caught three passes for 14 yards, and Cody Westling snagged one reception for 12 yards.

“They ran the ball even more than I thought they would,” Arneault Jr. said. “They ran a lot of three-back formations. They had a ground and pound philosophy. It was a muddy field, and they were able to take advantage. They did a good job running the offense they implemented.

“Defensively, we did a great job. We were able to get a stop to give our offense one last shot.”

Offensively, Oak Glen totaled 228 yards on 43 plays. The Golden Bears ran for 152 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries, while throwing for 76 yards and a touchdown.

“They did what I thought they would do,” Stickles said. “They made some big plays.”

The visitors amassed 13 first downs, committed seven penalties for 70 yards and fumbled three times losing one.

“Penalties killed us,” Arneault Jr. said. “That is something we continue to address. We have to reduce our number of penalties.

“With personal fouls, the second guy always is the one who gets caught. Our guys have to understand that. They know that, but they have to understand that.”

Finally, the boys from Hancock County punted three times, for average of 41.67 per punt.

Individually, quarterback Lance Collins completed 6 of 12 passes for 76 yards and a touchdown, while rushing 10 times for 57 yards.

“Collins did a real-nice job,” Stickles said. “He made some nice plays running the ball, and he made some nice plays throwing it.”

Also on the ground, Dakota Price recorded 83 yards on 18 carries, Jake McCoy collected 11 yards on two carries, and Solan Mueller tallied one yard on one carry.

McCoy caught one passes for 47 yards, Chase Crago recorded four receptions for 21 yards and Mueller tallied one catch for eight yards and a touchdown.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Wildcats struck first with a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. Cade took the hand off from Nave and broke through the Golden Bears defense en route to a 44-yard touchdown to make the score 6-0 with 11:51 left to play in the first half.

“We were able to take advantage of our opportunities,” Stickles said. “The opportunities went our way today, and we were able to take advantage of them.”

Oak Glen responded with a score of its own right before halftime.

On 2nd-and-goal, Collins completed an 8-yard touchdown pass to Mueller, and Collin Williams converted the extra point to put the Golden Bears ahead, 8-7, with seven seconds still showing on the scoreboard clock.

“I am proud of the success we had had tonight,” Arneault Jr. said.

Oak Glen was set to receive the opening kickoff of the second half, but Edison recovered an onside kick and took over at midfield. The victors then marched down to the field to regain the lead.

Kosegi capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, and Rachel Cline kicked the extra point to put the Wildcats back on top, 13-7, with 7:25 remaining to be played in the quarter.

“Honestly, that was not a planned onside kick,” Stickles said. “The kids just made a play. I am proud of the kids for making that play. We had an opportunity, and we were able to take full advantage of the opportunity.”

The lead did not last long as the Golden Bears responded on their next drive.

This time, Collins capped the Oak Glen drive with a 7-yard scoring scamper, and Williams once again split the uprights with the extra point to put the boys in the white jerseys back on top, 14-13.

“We had a rough start to the week,” Arneault Jr. said. “We have some boys struggling with injuries. We are struggling in certain areas.

“The team came together at the end of the week, and they came together tonight. We want to have a full week of good practices. We want to come together.”

The Wildcats’ win enabled Edison to snap its two-game losing streak to Oak Glen.

“It is a heartbreaker,” Arneault Jr. said.

Oak Glen rallied to defeat Edison, 31-27, last season at home.

The Wildcats last win over the Golden Bears came back in Week 1 of the 2013 season. Edison was victorious that night, 33-21, up at Oak Glen.

This game was the first one between the two teams to be played out at Edison since Week 1 of the 2010 season. The Golden Bears won that game, 36-18. The two teams played in Week 1 from 2010-2014.

Both teams are scheduled to play at 7 p.m. Friday night at home. Edison will play Buckeye 8 rival Harrison Central.

Meanwhile. Oak Glen is slated to play rival East Liverpool.

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