Edison Local - August 26, 2016
There have been years when the East Liverpool/Edison game has had as many twists and turns as the crooked highway that leads to the Jefferson County school, but this was not one of them, as the Wildcats showed up with a powerful rushing attack that, simply stated, knocked the Blue and White off the road to victory by a 29-14 count on a blistering hot night at Cartwright Memorial Field.
Led by a slick ball-handling quarterback, senior Joe Nave, and the strong running of junior tailback Seth Cade, the home team amassed 273 yards on 61 rushes, tallying in each quarter, while throwing only four passes.
For ELHS, the stats would be the opposite, as QB Austin Mayfield threw 19 times, completing ten for 118 yards and one TD, which came with 6:48 left to play. Wellsville transfer, Hayden Jackson, made the catch with Dylan Kidder converting, but it was too little too late.
Edison initially got on the board when the Cats took over following a three-and-out punt by Mayfield at the 7:48 mark of the first quarter. Setting up shop at their own 32, the Black and Silver ran off eleven plays in a little over six minutes with Dakota Clifton, a 5’11”, 150-pound sophomore running back going the final 14 yards. A fake conversion kick made it 8-0, when Nave took the snap and immediately threw a strike to senior receiver Storm Vincenzo.
The Potters did not get on the board until the third quarter when junior Kyle Walker went in from the six-yard line and Kidder converted. By then the home team had gone up by two scores, the second 34-yard sprint by Cade with 5:28 remaining in the first half. This time, Dom Rogers booted the extra point to put his team ahead, 15-0.
Following the ELHS score by Walker in the third quarter, the host team put on a ball control workshop, ripping off a 13-play drive that took the clock from 10:14 to 3:37 when Cade took the ball in from the five and Rogers made it 22-7.
Coach Derrick Stickler and his crew would add one more TD when another sophomore, River Pappas, took the ball across the final stripe from his own ten and Rogers booted his team’s 29th point.
COACH’S COMMENTS:
“My hat is off to the Edison team and Coach Stickles” said Coach Josh Ludwig following the game. “He had those guys ready to play, and we didn’t. He did an awesome job. The better team won tonight”.
“You have to take advantage of your opportunities in the red zone,” Ludwig continued. “When you are in the red zone, you have to score.”
DIGGER’S DUGOUT:
The Potters now have a slight 9-8 advantage against the Cats, which dates back to 1990 when three games were played with Edison South a consolidation of Stanton Local and Jefferson Union. The initial game was won by Edison, while the Blue and White, under Coach Bob Morris, came back to win the following two seasons by a combined total of 98-20.
In 1993, following further Edison consolidations, Bob Morris would be coaching his next-to-last season at ELHS, going 1-9, which included a 15-8 defeat at the hands of what now would be known as Edison Local – three name changes, and still in the same building as the former Jefferson Union. Finally, in 1994 Morris went winless, including a 14-10 loss to the down river foe.
The following season would be Bob Thayer’s initial as head coach of the Blue and White, and the beginning of a six-year rivalry vs. Coach Greg Bahen. In all, Thayer was 4-2 against his good friend, Bahen, who moved on in 2000. For Thayer, it would be 7-3 overall in his ten years vs. the Cats.
In Thayer’s final season, against Edison, the two rivals put on a clinic, scoring the most combined points in either school’s history, 89, as part of a 61-28 Potter victory.