Football 3-0 heading into divisional play

Edinboro’s home opener saw the Fighting Scots deliver a 49-24 beatdown of the East Stroudsburg Warriors, much to the delight of the home faithful.  

Bolstered by a quick offensive start, Edinboro scored early and often in the first half. The Warriors would try to answer back, but could only manage a field goal for three points in the two quarters. The Edinboro defense suffocated ESU and would end up holding them to 81 yards rushing. 

The real story would be that of self-inflicted wounds, as both sides struggled in discipline penalties. Those penalties were devastating to ESU. Each time they would make progress and cross into Edinboro territory, they would end up back on their own side of the field. After stomping on the gas pedal in the first half and scoring almost at-will, Edinboro seemed to let up a bit later on, allowing the Warriors back into the game late in the third quarter. 

“I thought we played pretty good football there in the first half and then got lulled to sleep a little bit there in the second half,” Head Football Coach Wayne Bradford said after the game.

Edinboro’s offense, an unstoppable force...

Andrew Tomko had a good day, throwing 22 completions on 35 attempts for a total of 282 total yards and two touchdowns. He also helped his own cause by catching a pass from Ta’Nauz Gregory on a halfback trick play. 

“Getting off to a fast start like that really helps with momentum and keeping the game flowing,” Tomko said. “It also helps the defense with the more points we can score.” 

Gregory led the Fighting Scots with 11 receptions for 162 yards and two touchdowns. The Fighting Scots also got the ball moving on the ground. Walter Fletcher had 110 yards on 20 carries, good for three touchdowns. Kyle Galyk would pitch in for 132 yards on 12 carries, which included a 77-yard breakaway touchdown run. 

...Their defense, an immovable object

 Led up front by Derek Dorr, the defense would shut ESU down. They managed to keep the dangerous running back Jaymar Anderson to only 68 yards rushing. The week prior, Anderson rushed for 239 yards against Seton Hill.

“We saw on film he had a big game against Seton Hill, and we knew if we shut him down the rest of the game would take care of itself,” Dorr said of Anderson.

Dorr finished the game with four total tackles and two sacks. Linebacker Trey Hall finished with eight total tackles. A whole host of defensemen would get interceptions in the game, including Zuril Hendrick, DeAndre Dowdell, Billy Depaul and Myles Turner. The defense held the Warriors to 392 yards of total offense.

The Edinboro Fighting Scots are on the road next week as they travel to PSAC West conference rival California University of Pennsylvania. The Vulcans of Cal were heavily favored coming into the season and have a 1-2 record. Kickoff for that game is slated for 1 p.m. and can be heard on 88.9 WFSE or streamed lived at Edinboronow.com. 

Coach Bradford said of the upcoming week, “I just told the team, ‘preseason is over and now it’s on to big boy football.’” 

George Schmidt can be reached at sports.spectator@gmail.com.

 

RELATED ARTICLES