Edison Takes Down Toronto
TORONTO - Turn the page has been a common theme for Shane O'Brien and his Edison football team in the lead up to the season.
The Wildcats, who were coming off a winless campaign in 2019, did just that, opening this season with a 31-19 road win over rival Toronto Friday night.
"Last year is in the past. This group has worked really hard and faced a lot of adversity," O'Brien said. "I'm so proud of the way these guys responded to everything. These guys were prepared for this game, and they wanted it."
Edison (1-0) struck first, weathered the counter punch from the Red Knights and methodically built a big fourth-quarter lead, en route to the victory. After forcing a three-and-out on Toronto's first possession, Tremendous West -- who attended Toronto last year -- hauled in a deep ball from sophomore quarterback Gage Cline for a 42-yard score for a 7-0 lead.
"Scoring first was a big momentum builder for us," O'Brien said. "We thought we might have an opportunity to take advantage of something early, and we were really happy we were able to get the momentum early. That set the tone for the rest of the game."
Though Toronto put together a long scoring drive to answer, the momentum never seemed to fully shift to the Red Knights.
"We came back and were able to tie it 7-7, but it just seemed like Edison wanted it more than we did," Toronto coach Josh Franke said. "You have to give Edison all the credit in the world. They gave a little more effort than we did. It clearly showed, and we came up short. "
On Toronto's first scoring drive, Garrett Dozier racked up 56 yards on eight carries, including capping it by plowing in from 2 yards out. He added just another three yards, including a late 1-yard score, the rest of the way.
While the running game for the Red Knights stalled after the first quarter, it was consistently there all night for the Wildcats. Tyler Griffith, who finished with 32 yards and a score on eight carries, broke free from 23 yards out to make it 14-7 Edison in the waining seconds of the opening quarter.
"We knew we wanted to establish the run game," O'Brien said. "We have multiple backs that can carry the ball … and they all did an excellent job of running and taking care of the ball, which was big for us in a rain game like this. We knew in a game with bad weather we had to rely on our run game."
Prior to the score, there was a 33-minute delay for lightning that also made halftime just one minute.
"If that's not 2020 in a nutshell, I don't' know what is," O'Brien said. "We told them to just control what they can control. We knew this might happen and were prepared for it. We got back on the field and it was like we didn't miss a beat."
Before the abbreviated halftime, freshman kicker Mason Montgomery nailed a 23-yard field goal as time expired to make it a 17-7 Edison lead at the break.
Also making an impact for the Wildcats was sophomore running back Ethan Waggoner, who racked up 64 yards and a score on 14 carries.
"Waggoner was a really nice addition for them transfering in," Franke said. "He ran hard and is a good compliment to Griffith for them. They have two good backs that were tough to stop.
"The rain hurt us. It really affected our passing game. It eliminated a lot of our playbook and game plan."
Early in the fourth quarter, Griffith made an impact on defense, intercepting a Caleb Leasure pass and returning it 12 yards to score, making it a 24-7 lead.
Toronto showed some life with an 80-yard JoJo Savage kick return touchdown off of a reverse that cut the deficit to 24-13, but a 6-yard Waggoner plunge to cap another long Edison drive all but wrapped things up with 2:22 to go.
"We're just very thankful to have the opportunity to play and be able to come out with a win," O'Brien said.