Edwardsville Opens Preseason Football Practice, Have Usual High Expectations, Faces Strong Schedule Once Again
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By COLIN FEENEY
EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville High football team, along with the other teams all around the state, opened up preseason practice Monday morning, Aug. 11, 2025, at Tiger Stadium with the enthusiasm and high expectations of the upcoming season that one would usually have for a top-tier program such as the Tigers have.
Things went very smoothly for the opening practice, which was the start of a full first day of preseason workouts as the Tigers get ready for their week zero scrimmage against Triad on Aug. 22, 2025, and the season opener at home on Aug. 29, 2025, against Chatham Glenwood, as Edwardsville comes off a 6-4 overall 2024 campaign that ended with a loss to DeSmet Jesuit, and in the first round of the IHSA Class 8A playoffs at Elmhurst York.
The usual optimism abounds for the Tigers, as the coaches worked hard with their players during the workout. All-in-all, a very good opening session.
"It's always good to get to the fall," said Edwardsville head coach Kelsey Pickering. "The summer's good, and we enjoy it, but it's just so different. I think everyone knows the season's finally here, and everything we do moving forward is going to put us in a place to have some success, hopefully."
The Tigers lost many solid players to graduation, including defensive end Iose Epenesa to Iowa University, but have many returnees back, and all are looking ahead to a successful 2025 campaign.
"We have Triad the week before for the scrimmage," Pickering said, "and that'll be nice to get out and compete against somebody else. Triad is going to be good this year, and that's what we want to see from them. We know they're a good program, year in and year out. They return a lot of guys, so our kids have to understand the urgency of week one is going to be a great game."
As far as players who may be key for the Tigers, Pickering had one thing to say about that.
"They'll show us each week," he said.
Of course, Pickering has high expectations for the Tigers, as do the players themselves, and it never changes from one year to the next.
"No, those don't change," Pickering said. "It's about meeting them. I think anytime you have a new group, you're always assessing them about what they're going to be, and what can they be. For us, I don't know if that changes. For us, I think every game we're gonna play is always going to be a dogfight, I do. You look at our schedule, and to say 'oh, that should be an easy week,' we don't have those. I think that's the part where the kids have to understand that, that every week matters."
Especially in the Southwestern Conference, where pitfalls abound for the unwary, and the unexpected can happen at any time. And the non-conference games can be tricky to get around as well.
"Yeah, you've got the Southwestern Conference," Pickering said, "our non-conference schedule's pretty solid. So, we want that competitive schedule. Our kids understand that, and now, they have to meet that in practice."
The non-conference slate includes Glenwood on opening night, road games at Indianapolis Lawrence Central and DeSmet, and a home date with Jackson, Mo., a traditional southeast Missouri power.
As far as hopes and dreams for the new season, Pickering aims high for his team.
"The best we can get," Pickering said. "I think when you try to put a ceiling on something, that's you might miss an opportunity to be greater than you can be. We just want to always work at that, getting better each and every day, competing at a level that is as high as we can compete, and don't waste any reps. Whatever comes out of that, I think we'll be OK with the results."
