Eagles Soar with Ground Attack

Senior Running Backs Kevin Carter and Akeen Perry Lead Edison to 46 Unanswered Points — Including 39 in the Second Half — Friday at South County

“At
the beginning of the season I was kind of antsy about playing
quarterback because you know my natural position is wide receiver,”
Barber said. “But anything that will help the team out, I’m willing to
do.

“The coaches know that, and my teammates know that, too.”

So
when No. 5 pulled his offensive line aside during half time of Friday’s
rain-soaked game at South County and told them that game’s outcome “lies in
your hands” they were more than a little eager to show Barber that they, too, would do whatever the team needed.

Edison’s line, led by juniors Mehdi Charfi, Kenny Clessas and Frank Figueroa and senior Bernard Butler II, flat out dominated the line of scrimmage in the second half. All six of the Eagles’ second-half possessions resulted in points, including a 25-yard field goal by senior Paul Bergstrom and five rushing touchdowns en route to a 46-7 victory. The two teams had been tied at 7 at half time. “Where we were struggling in the first half was on the o-line,” said Barber, whose 14-yard touchdown pass to junior Corey Washington in the left corner of the end zone accounted for the Eagles’ lone first-half score.

Edison senior Akeen Perry fights for one of his 207 yards rushing Friday at South County.

“But in the second half they really took over when we needed it, and we
were able to just pound it and pound it and pound it and pound it. Our offensive line was able to put their defensive line
back on their heels … and that’s when we started to score points.”

The
Eagles (2-1) had totaled only 69 yards rushing in the first half, but racked
up whopping 365 yards in the final two quarters for a total of 434 yards
rushing. Senior Akeen Perry paced Edison with 207 yards on 16
carries, an average of 12.9 yards per touch. Perry’s 24-yard touchdown
run late in the third quarter put the Eagles ahead, 18-7, and
officially signaled the start of the rout.

Senior Kevin Carter added 114 yards on 12 attempts, a similarly impressive 9.5 yards per carry, and scored on touchdown runs of 30 and 11 yards.

“It
was fun watching the little guy break some runs,” Carter said, laughing
and playfully teasing Perry, who stood next to him and nearly four
inches shorter. “Seriously, it’s fun blocking for him. This year my
role has been a little bit reduced with running the ball, but if I make
a block and he breaks up the sideline, that’s as good as breaking off a
70-yarder myself.”

	Sophomore Angus Harper (5 carries, 63 yards) and junior Domincio Tucker (2 carries, 37 yards) got into the action as well, adding touchdown runs of 45 and 34 yards, respectively, in the game’s final four minutes. “We just made some adjustments in the locker room and came out in the second half and executed real well,” Perry said. “Our offensive line did a great job blocking and the coaches called some great plays to break [us] off with some great runs. “We really believed we were the better team, and we came out and showed it in the second half.” Edison’s defense did its part, too, limiting South County to only 134 yards of total offense on the night.
Edison senior Kevin Carter scored on runs of 30 and 11 yards Friday night.

The Stallions (1-2) scored on the game’s opening
possession on a 36-yard run by senior quarterback Ryan Heyrana on a beautifully-executed fake handoff to running back Titus Pennington that fooled the Eagles’ entire defense. Heyrana then raced untouched up the middle of the field for a score.

But
South County’s 12 remaining drives were not nearly as productive,
ending in five punts, three fumbles, an interception by Edison senior Kendall Wallace and a missed field goal. The Stallions also had two drives stall at time expired at the end of each half.

“We came out really prepared for what they were going to do,” said Eagles’ junior linebacker Stephon Robertson,
who laid a couple of blistering hits on the Stallions’ receivers and
recovered an onside kick for the Eagles midway through the fourth
quarter. “Coach [Vaughn Lewis] said we had to focus on stopping the run, and that’s what we did.”

But while stopping the Stallions’ run game — and establishing one of their own — certainly keyed the Eagles’ win, it wasn’t what had Robertson smiling so broadly when it was all said and done. The smile came at the mere mention of one of his jaw-dropping hits, the first of which came on the next-to-last play of the opening quarter.

“Oh my gosh, there’s nothing like hitting somebody like that,” Robertson said. “Nothing. That set the tone for the defense for the rest of the night.”

To see a complete photo gallery from Friday’s game taken by professional
photographer Kaileen Galhouse, go to

http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/1179855540834/KaileenGalhouse/EdisonSC

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Caught in a Storm

Lightening Put an Early End to Overtime and Left Edison and South County’s Field Hockey Teams Locked in a 1-1 Tie

What had been a tightly-contested and well-played match between
Edison and host South County ended in anti-climatic
fashion Monday night when rain — and lightening — forced Stallions’
Coach Leah Conte and Eagles’ Coach Ginger White Robertson to agree to
have the game end in a draw.

“We’d rather stay and play,” said a disappointed Megan Wears, South County’s standout sophomore forward. “We came out really strong for overtime, so we were ready. We wanted the win.”

But when the lightening had not subsided by about 9:15 p.m., meaning it would be at least 9:45 until the teams would even be allowed to return to the field, the coaches and officials jointly decided to call it a night. The two teams finished locked in a 1-1 tie with 9 minutes, 14 seconds still left in the first sudden-death overtime period. South County, which got excellent defensive play by freshman speedster Erica Binzer and sophomore Caitlyn Kost and great stick work from junior forwards Megan Rea and Tierney Smith, nearly escaped with the win in regulation. The Stallions took the lead with 6:44 remaining on a goal by Wears, who took a beautiful feed from senior forward Sarah Shiflette on the right side of the goal and knocked it in. “Oh, she played it perfectly and slid it through two defenders,” Wears said of Shiflette. “And I was able to tip it in.” But Edison countered with just 2:08 to play when junior Julia Fiorio brought the ball up the right side of the field and fired a beautiful pass to senior Nancy Norman right in front of the goal to knot the score. “I wasn’t playing very well so I had been in-and-out of the game,” said Norman, who like many players seemed to have difficulty handling the oppressive humidity that hung in the air throughout the first half. “So I knew I needed to step it up. I saw Julia coming all the way up the field and she got it to me so quick I’m not sure anyone really knew what happened. “I think I was jumping up and down celebrating before any even realized it had gone in.”

South County senior Maddie Bradsher talks strategy during pre-game with Coach Leah Conte.

Fiorio was the Eagles’ stopper a year ago, but the graduation of nine seniors from that squad forced White Robertson to make changes to her lineup. And with senior All-Met sweeper Tara White returning plus the addition of tough senior defender Mara Yothers, White Robertson said she felt comfortable moving Fiorio up.

“Our defense has held up okay so I decided to try something different with Julia and move her up to center forward,” explained White Robertson, who also got excellent stick work from Norman and senior center link Alyssa Tullar. “And it worked. She just carried the ball beautifully up the field and found Nancy, who was in the right place at the right time. And a lot of the time, that’s all it takes.”

Norman and South County senior Kelly McConnell each got a good look at a shot-on-goal in the overtime session before officials caught sight of the lightening and sent the teams into the school building for their safety.

All three of the Stallions’ regular-season games have gone to overtime, and it’s an even split: one win, one loss, one tie. The Eagles’ record similarly stands at 2-1-1.

“We were ready to fight all the way to the end,” Wears said. “And I’m sure they were, too. We’ve played them before and it’s always a tough match. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be tonight.”