RICHMOND — The battle for Route 43 went to the Carrollton football team.

Carrollton led by 10 points in the third quarter before Edison stormed back and pulled within two in the fourth, however, the Warriors were able to convert a key fourth down in the final minutes of the ball game to hold on and defeat the Wildcats, 16-14, Friday night out at the Edison Unified Sports Complex.

“It was a great game,” first-year Edison (1-1) head coach Anthony Pierro said. “We had a lot of turnovers early on that put us behind. We battled back in the second half. We gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game.

“This loss is on me. I have to do a better job of calling plays and doing the things I need to do. That’s on me. We came back, and we gave ourselves a chance.”

For the most part, Edison’s loss was self-inflicted, however, a costly mistake by the officiating crew wiped an 81-yard touchdown off the scoreboard in the second quarter preventing Edison from possibly tying the score with an extra point. The inadvertent whistle not only took six points off the board for the hosts, but the mistake was compounded two players later when the Wildcats fumbled and the visitors recovered.

The Wildcats hurt themselves on offense by committing three turnovers, having a costly penalty on their last drive of the game as well as dropping a couple of pass, including a big one on third down on Edison’s next to last offensive play of the night. The boys from Jefferson County also gave up a touchdown following a short punt.

“We had mistakes on some drives,” Pierro said. “We would drive the ball down the field and then something bad would happen. That is my fault. I have to do a better job of calling plays and putting us in the right positions.”

Edison outgained Carrollton, 315-226. The Wildcats ran 60 plays in the game, while the Warriors ran 51. The home team ran for 203 yards and two touchdowns on 36 carries, while the boys from Carroll County tallied 118 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries. The Silver and Black collected 112 yards through the air, while the victors recorded 108 and a touchdown.

Edison quarterback JD Henderson completed 8-of-24 passes for 112 yards, however, he was intercepted twice, including on fourth down on Edison’s final offensive play. Henderson did run for 63 yards on 12 carries, and the senior also ran for a 2-point conversion.

Brett Hellyer tallied 124 yards and two touchdowns on the ground for the Wildcats. He also caught one pass for 24 yards.

Will Norris hauled in three receptions for the locals.

Carrollton quarterback Hunter Allison completed 8-of-20 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown. He also threw an interception in the fourth quarter.

On the ground, the boys in white were led Levi Kiko, who collected 114 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. Kiko also caught one pass for eight yards.

Javen Johnson netted 45 yards on three receptions, while Jaden Murphy produced two catches for 28 yards and a touchdown.

Edison got the ball first to start the game, but the Wildcats were unable to do anything with it as they were forced to punt, however, Carrollton’s returner fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by Edison at the Carrollton 43. The Wildcats were given new life, however, an incomplete pass on fourth down resulted in a turnover on downs at the Warriors’ 39.

The victors were forced to punt on their next drive, and Edison began its next drive at its own 27. Unfortunately, a bad snap resulted in a 14-yard loss on second down, and the Wildcats were ultimately forced to punt from their own 17. The punt was a short one, and the Warriors began their next drive at Edison’s 34.

A 20-yard reception down to the 15 set Carrollton up in the red zone, and then Kiko broke through the defense for a 15-yard touchdown, and Paycen Havens kicked the extra point to put the Warriors up, 7-0, with 5:53 left to play in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the wildcats were facing a 4th-and-2 from their own 19 when Pierro dialed up a long pass play as Connor Watson hauled in the pass, and broke free for an apparent 81-yard touchdown to pull his team within 7-6. Alas, it was not to be as the play was blown dead following the catch due to an inadvertent whistle.

The completion still stood, however, instead of a touchdown, Edison was only able to gain 33 yards on the play. Disaster struck two plays later when the Wildcats fumbled and the Warriors recovered.

“There was an inadvertent whistle, and it took away a touchdown,” Pierro said. “What are you going to do?”

The Wildcats got the ball back following a punt, however, an interception gave the ball back to Carrollton, and the Warriors took advantage of it. Taking over at their own 48, the Warriors drove down to the Wildcats’ six before Havens kicked a 23-yard field goal with no time remaining on the clock to give Carrollton a 10-0 advantage at halftime.

The Edison defense stiffened and forced Carrollton to put on its first possession of the second half. The Wildcats took over at their own 9 – 91 yards away from paydirt – following the punt.

The Wildcats, however, were undeterred as Edison ended up marching 91 yards for its first score of the game. The long march was capped off by a 3-yard by Hellyer to make the score, 10-6, however, the extra point was no good keeping the team’s deficit at four points with 2:30 left to play in the third.

Carrollton came right back as the Warriors countered with a touchdown of their own. Taking over at its own 32, Carrollton drove 68 yards for a touchdown with the six points coming on a 21-yard pass from Allison to Murphy. The Warriors were not able to convert the extra point keeping them up by 10 points with just eight seconds left in the quarter.

Edison responded with an 80-yard march for its second touchdown of the ballgame. This time, Hellyer capped off the drive with an 8-yard score, and Henderson ran for the 2-point conversion pulling the Wildcats to within 16-14 with 9:23 remaining in the game.

The Wildcat defense came up with a big play on Carrollton’s next drive as Kenny Farnsworth intercepted a pass allowing Edison to take over at its own 34 with 5:36 still showing on the scoreboard clock.

A run on first down netted six yards, however, a 5-yard penalty backed the Wildcats up, and the Warriors intercepted a pass on fourth down and Carrollton took over at its own 46.

Facing a 4th-and-2 at the Edison 46, Allison completed a 17-yard pass for a first down, and Carrollton was able to run out the clock from that point.

Both teams are on the road next week. Edison is scheduled to play Southern Local (0-2) at 7 p.m. Friday night up at Wigwam Stadium, while Carrollton will play at Cloverleaf (1-1).

“We are going to comeback tomorrow and try to fix our mistakes,” Pierro said. “We have to stay together, and we are going to try and get another win next week.”

Carrollton 16, Edison 14

Carrollton 7 3 6 0 – 16

Edison 0 0 6 8 – 14

C: Kiko 15 run (Havens kick), 5:53

C: Havens 23 field goal, :00

E: Hellyer 3 run (kick fail), 2:30

C: Murphy 21 pass from Allison (kick fail), :08

E: Hellyer 8 run (Henderson run), 9:23

RUSHING: Carrollton 31-118 TD (Allison 4-(-2), Kiko 25-114 TD, Thomas 1-2, Husted 2-4); Edison 36-203 2TDs (Henderson 12-63, Hellyer 24-124 2TDs)

PASSING: Carrollton 8-20-108-1-1 (All by Allison); Edison 8-24-112-0-2 (All by Henderson)

RECEIVING: Carrollton 8-108 TD (Johnson 3-45, Brooks 1-15, Murphy 2-28 TD, Kiko 1-8, Husted 1-12); Edison 8-112 (Norris 3-15, Freeman 1-25, Watson 1-33, Kimmerle 1-9, Haught 1-6, Hellyer 1-24)

FIRST DOWNS: Carrollton 12; Edison 11

CARROLLTON: Carrollton 4-45; Edison 9-75

FUMBLES: Carrollton 4-1; Edison 3-1