EDWARDSVILLE - A blocked punt that went out of the end zone resulted in a safety with approximately five minutes left in regulation, and Hunter Lading missed a 26-yard field goal with 2:11 left, as Indianapolis Lawrence Central came away with a 22-21 win over Edwardsville in the Tigers' home opener Friday night at Tiger Stadium.
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It was a very entertaining football game that went down to the wire, with many good plays by the Bears and the Tigers in the game. But in the end, special teams play made the difference in the game.
"Yeah, good and bad," said Edwardsville head coach Kelsey Pickering. "We just talked to the team about it, is that, I don't think there was a phase that didn't have errors tonight. I'm not taking anything away from Lawrence Central, that's a good football team, they're going their games. But, again, we made a lot of mistakes, and we're going to have to get back to the film The coaches are going to sit down, we're going to go through things, and we are going to figure out where we could be better. I made two, probably, critical errors tonight, and I won't talk about them. Those were on me. I'm going to head to Game Changer right now, so I'm going to figure out those things first. And then, we'll get with the kids. But, yeah, special teams had great plays, and also had some bad plays, just like the offense and defense."
One great play was a 90-yard kickoff return for a second-quarter touchdown by Clayton Lakatos that cut the Bears' lead to 14-7, and gave the Tigers a needed boost."
"Yeah, there's no doubt about it," Pickering said. "We talk about it with our guys, that special teams, they're the game changer. They only get a few reps, but they can be huge momentum swings. And then, you have on top of that, turnovers. We did get a turnover, and those are big momentum changers. Special teams and turnovers can really change the momentum of a game, and Ir did for that moment, and we've gotta figure out a way to continue to capitalize on that good fortune."
The offense did give Edwardsville the chance to win the game, when Lading missed the field goal attempt that would have put the Tigers ahead late.
"Sure, 100 percent," Pickering said. "And I'd put Hunter out there again. I've got faith in him, he works hard. People don't see, he comes in, he kicks before practice, kicks during our special teams, he does a good job. And so, we didn't put him out there, because we thought he was going to miss. That's unfortunate, and again, like I told him when he came off the sideline, for us, I could show him on film where, if we do other things, we're not in that position. And so, everyone wants to look at the last kick, that changed the game. No, it didn't. I mean, it could have won it. But we could have won it in a lot of other phases, tonight."
The offense still gave Edwardsville the chance to win, and Pickering agreed with that.
"One hundred percent," Pickering said. "That's the thing. There's good tonight. There's good, offense, defense, and special teams, there's good. We have to figure out how to fix the bad and the negative stuff, because that's the piece that's going put us to the next level."
Pickering also had much good to say about the Bears, one of the best schools in the Indianapolis area.
Their coaches do a good job," Pickering said. "Their coaches are good, they're good people, just talking to them before the game, and just watching them on film. It's like I told the coaches, you can see on film how they're coached. They're coached well. They have talent. We're going to see a lot of teams with talent. We have to figure out how to deal with that. But, that is a good team, that's a very well-coached team, and I know I have to do better."
The Bears took the first possession, and kept the ball for 15 plays to start, mixing the run and the pass well, keeping the Tiger defense on their toes. Nizyi David climaxed the drive with a nine-yard run for the first touchdown but missed a two-point conversion to give Central a 6-0 lead. Edwardsville on their first possession had good plays but turned the ball over on downs, and the Bears again went to work, holding the ball for a good while, climaxing on a fourth down play, when quarterback Terry Walker III ran in from five yards out, with a two=point pass good, upping the lead to 14-0 with 9:06 left in the first half.
On the ensuing kickoff, Lakatos took the ball, and went up the middle for a 90-yard return for a touchdown that cut the Central lead to 14-7, giving the Tigers needed momentum. Undaunted, the Bears went 79 yards in nine plays, ending when Waker connected with Antonio Williams-Holland for a 30-yard touchdown pass that made the score 30-7 after the convert was missed.
Edwardsville seized the momentum back, when the Tigers drove 57 yards in seven plays, ending with Steven Moore, Jr. scoring his third touchdown of the season, putting the Tigers to within 20-14 at the half. When the second half started, Edwardsville took the lead on a 55-yard pass from Yale Weaver to Moore, with the conversion putting the Tigers up 21-20 early in the third.
It stayed that way, as the defenses took over, until late in the game, when the Tigers, deep int their own territory, had a punt blocked out of the end zone, with the two points giving Central the lead back 22-21. Edwardsville had another opportunity when Cincere Ruffin intercepted a pass and brought it back to the Central 35. The Tigers drove down to inside the 10 with just over two minutes left, when Lading's 26-yard field goal try went wide right, giving the Bears the ball back. Central ran out the clock to give the Bears the 22-21 win.
Both teams are now 1-1, with the Bears playing at Indianapolis Warren Central, and Edwardsville playing at Jackson, Mo. next week. The two games kick off at 7 p.m., local time.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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