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Beavers can’t weather Edison

RICHMOND — First-year Edison coach Shane O’Brien has said since getting the job he wanted to bring a winning culture to the Wildcats.

Part of that winning culture is finding ways to gut out close games, even when things do not go according to plan. That is exactly what his team did Friday night, improving to 3-2 by holding off Beaver Local for a 14-7 victory Friday night at Cartwright Memorial Field after a two-hour and 20-minute weather delay late in the first quarter.

“Not everything went as planned tonight,” O’Brien said. “We have a lot of things to work on. The guys did whatever it took to win the game. A win is a win, and we are happy with it.

“It comes down to the attitude the culture we are creating here. They are developing a winning culture.”

When the game was halted by a sudden downburst of hard rain, followed by lightning with 24 seconds left in the opening quarter, the score was knotted at 7-7. The Wildcats were facing fourth-and-17. Edison’s special teams unit had the long delay to think about the punt and made a game-changing play when it finally happened.

After letting the clock expire upon the game resuming, Beaver Local (2-3) muffed the punt and Edison pounced on it to take over deep in the Beavers end.

“We knew we had to come out and punt after the long break,” O’Brien said. “We talked to them. We were preparing for that play during the break. Luckily, they muffed the punt, and we were ready to capitalize on it and able to take advantage of a big opportunity there. That was big turning point that gave us the momentum.”

On another fourth down, Edison senior quarterback Anthony Sinicropi rolled to his left and fired a ball to the back of the end zone. Noah Woods made the grab to score what turned out to be the game-deciding points.

Beaver Local came close to getting it back in the final minute. After a 25-yard run by Beavers’ quarterback Tanner Johnston and a personal foul on the Wildcats put Beaver Local at the 12, he ran the ball to the 3. On 3rd and 2, Johnston lost 2 yards, making everything come down to a 4th and 4 with 46 seconds to go. Johnston was wrapped up and hauled down by Edison defenders 1-yard short of the sticks, sealing the victory as Beaver Local used up all of its timeouts.

“Our defense really stepped up,” O’Brien said. “That goal line stand was really important for us. They have really been able to come up big in some clutch moments this season.”

The winning touchdown was not the only points giftwrapped by the Beavers. Edison’s first touchdown, the game’s first points with 4:59 remaining in the first quarter, came when Logan Morrison recovered a Beaver Local fumble in the end zone to make it 7-0.

Beaver Local also had 10 penalties totaling 65 yards, several of which came at costly times and stalled out drives.

“We made too many mistakes,” Beaver Local coach Mike McKenzie said. “We fumbled in the end zone and gave them a touchdown. We had them to fourth down, and they scored a touchdown. They played hard, and we knew they would. Too many times we were moving the ball and had a holding call or snapped the ball over our head or made another mistake. We’re not explosive enough right now to overcome that.”

McKenzie, a former Edison coach, also was not in agreement with the game being restarted on Friday night rather than being postponed to Saturday.

“It was a big challenge,” McKenzie said. “We were stuck in a small locker room. I’ll be honest, we were under the impression that we were coming back (today) and our kids changed clothes. I am very good friends with all the people at Edison, I was here for seven years, but a couple of people in that decision making process I was not in agreement with.”

O’Brien said a postponement was close to happening, but he and his staff wanted to get it in.

Sinicropi left the game in the second quarter after being injured on a short run. According to O’Brien, he is expected to be OK. He was 7 of 12 passing for 53 yards with the score and a pick at the time, also finishing as Edison’s leading rusher with 22 yards on seven trips. Tyler Shrieve, a sophomore, finished the game 0 for 1 passing and 13 rushing yards.

Both offenses were hindered by the the field conditions following the delay, as both finished with less than 200 yards of offense, a lot of which came in the opening quarter.

Edison hosts 2-3 Oak Glen next Friday. Beaver Local hosts Bellaire.

BEAVER: 7-0-0-0 — 7

EDISON: 7-7-0-0 — 14

SCORING

E–L. Morrison fumble recovery (Montgomery kick), 4:59

B–Kane 53 pass from Johnston (kick good), 2:59

E–Woods 12 pass from Sinicropi (Montgomery kick, 8:14

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Beaver Local 37-128 (Johnston 14-50; Givens 12-52; Kane 6-21; Lewis 3-5; Salsberry 2-0). Edison 35-45 (Waggoner 16-15; Shrieve 9-13; Sinicropi 7-22; Clifton 3-(-5).

PASSING– Beaver Local 3-9-61-1-2 (Johnston 2-7-58-1-2; Lewis 1-2-3-0-0). Edison 7-15-53-1-1 (Sinicropi 7-12-53-1-1; Woods 0-1; Shrieve 0-1).

RECEIVING–Beaver Local 3-61-1 (Kane 2-58-1; Garcia 1-3). Edison 7-53-1 (Woods 3-30-1; McAfoose 2-25; Higgs 1-0; Waggoner 1-(-2).

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TEAM STATISTICS

FUMBLES-LOST: Beaver Local 5-2; Edison 2-0.

PENALTIES-YARDS: Beaver Local 10-65; Edison 7-60.

PUNTS: Beaver Local 5-28.2; Edison 7-31.9.

FIRST DOWNS: Beaver Local 7; Edison 8.

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