EDWARDSVILLE - Remi Werdem scored two touchdowns in the final 12 seconds of the first half, the second after time expired, due to a pass interference penalty against Belleville East that extended the half by one down, and it was the turning point of the game as Edwardsville won their second straight girls flag football game 32-16 over the Lancers Wednesday evening, Sept. 3, 2025, at Tiger Stadium.
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The fan enthusiasm remained high for the Edwardsville crew, thanks to an active and vocal student cheering section. Edwardsville also allowed their first points of the season, and trailed for the first time ever in the game, but were able to overcome the adversity to win and extend their record to 2-0.
"We're feeling good," said Tigers' head coach Taylor Hay. "We set goals and expectations at the beginning of the season. One of those is to go undefeated at home, so, we can check off something off our list, and we're looking forward to hosting Carbondale next week, and obviously, bring the same amount of energy, and have the same result."
Werden's second touchdown after the half expired was definitely the turning point of the game, and was also used by Hay as a teaching point to her team.
"Oh, it was, and that's also a teaching point for my defense," Hay said. "So I let them know someone from Belleville East made not a great decision, right? Made a mistake, and that cost them a whole touchdown, and then another touchdown. And right before half. If they wouldn't have had that, they probably would have been up at half. So, there's a teaching point for our defense."
The entire team, from quarterback Ella Wallace to receiver Sophie Shapiro and Werdem, a running back, played well again, and it's a good sing of things to come from the Tigers.
"Honestly, coach Jamie (assistant coach Gaal) and I were trying to figure out who we wanted as offensive player of the week," Hay said. "We couldn't even pick, because Ella had 372 yards for passing, and six touchdowns. And then, Sophie Shapiro had two touchdowns, Gabby Thompson had two touchdowns, so we just didn't do it for the first week, because it was so crazy. And I know Remi is very consistent, and this week, she really, really puled out in front for us."
The Tigers host the Terriers next Thursday at Tiger Stadium, and Hay's looking forward to preparing for that game, and possibly going 3-0 to get the program started.
Hay said: "So tomorrow, watch film, we'll probably do some breakdown of that film, and watching it also. I don't know if there's any film on Carbondale, so we'll look that up, and if there is, then we'll break that down, and practice appropriately. We're looking forward to a lot of stuff."
Each team was turned away on their opening possessions, then the Lancers struck first, climaxing a long drive with a three-yard touchdown run by Deasia Willis, plus a two – point convert to give the Lancers an 8-0 lead early in the second quarter. The Tigers came right back with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Wallace to Sophie Antonini, with a two-point pass caught to tie the game 8-8 with 7:17 left in the first half.
East countered with another three-yard touchdown, this one scored again by Willis, to give the Lancers the lead back at 16-8. Werdem scored the first of her two touchdowns on a 13-yard pass from Wallace, but the conversion was missed, leaving East ahead 16-14. Audrey Walls intercepted a pass on the first play after the touchdown, returning it to the Lancer 29, and a pass from Wallace was incomplete, but East was called for pass interference as time expired in the half, giving them an untimed play. Wallace and Werdem capitalized on the penalty immediately, as Werden made a nice catch of a 19-yard pass from Wallace, and the conversion was good to give the Tigers a 24-16 lead at halftime.
The Tiger defense stiffened at the right time in the second half, as the Lancers came away empty after long drives that eventually ailed, and Edwardsville iced the game late in the second half, as Antonini took a pass from Wallace and went in from 19 yards out, with Shapiro catching the climactic two-point pass to make the final 32-16 for Edwardsville, with the Tiger defense coming up big on the final Lancer possession.
Edwardsville is now 2-0, and hosts Carbondale next Thursday, Sept. 11, at 6 p.m., while East goes to 1-1, and travels to East St. Louis on Saturday afternoon, with the start time to be announced.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
