“This is one of those rivalry games that we’ve played since back in the day,” Clemmons said. “This is a game that we always look forward to. It’s one of those backyard games that you want to see continue.”
The Cougars beat the Brave 51-7 on Friday night.
Both teams were searching for a much-needed win after starting the season 0-3. The Cougars reeled off 34 straight points in the first half to all but put the game away early.
“That’s the thing, through those losses, the boys were hooked up and tuned up and ready,” Clemmons said.
Clemmons said Edgewood has been forced to make some personnel adjustments since Week 1 due to being dinged up, but the product put on the field Friday night was a winning formula.
“It’s the saying you always say at college and the pros — next man up. They’ve got a lot of dudes,” Clemmons said. “Our injuries at our size and at our level, they hurt. It takes a while to get through them. The stuff that we did and the movements that we’ve made to get guys in position, it’s paying dividends right now for us.”
The Cougars (1-3) had a decent start against local powerhouse Badin last week. Then things slipped away from them in a 42-14 loss.
“It’s a combination of things,” Clemmons said. “With that Badin game, in the first half, the way we played, some of the boys started to understand how good they can be.
“We had some moments in that game that we didn’t do well,” Clemmons added. “We got this week. This week of practice we got after it, kept working hard and competing with each other. It showed when we played the game (Friday).”
“It felt like we all finally came together as a team,” Edgewood senior lineman Declan Hitte said. “We all started playing for each other instead of playing for individuals. We all worked really hard (Friday).”
Talawanda (0-4) is still searching for any sort of momentum. Brave first-year coach Andy Stuckert said he saw plenty of positives, but the ability to follow through has been a struggle for his youthful program.
“We always have glimpses of what we can be every week,” Stuckert said. “At some point, we’ve got to show up and play 11 on offense and 11 on defense — and it be complimentary.
“I’ll never be the one to blame the kids, man,” Stuckert added. “And I’ll take that squarely on me. We just have to figure out a way to not get ourselves in certain positions. We’ve adjusted a lot of our stuff already to make sure that we put the kids in the best position. But we’re still clearly not doing a good enough job of that.
“For us and my coaches, I know they’ll get it right. And I know I’ve got the right people up here, so now it’s just a point of us dummying it down a little bit — finding some stuff we can get good at so we can finally hang our hat and adjust from there.”
Edgewood had 349 total yards of offense, 21 first downs and six touchdowns.
Three Cougars running backs found the end zone, including two touchdowns runs from senior Clay Halsey, two from sophomore Kyle Franke and another from sophomore Miller Fall. Franke finished with 82 yards rushing, Fall with 59 and Halsey 57.
Edgewood junior quarterback Ryan French threw for 84 yards on 4 of 7 passes and two touchdowns. Junior Isaac Rosenfelder caught one of the TD passes and Fall snagged the other.
Talawanda junior quarterback Cale Leitch led all rushers with 126 yards on 15 carries and scored on a 77-yard touchdown run just before the half.
Other games
Hamilton 26, Oak Hills 7: Roemale Shephard-Ruffin put Hamilton on the board with an 11-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and added a 29-yard TD pass from Antonio Mathis in the fourth. C.J. Bryant led Hamilton defensively with eight tackles, seven solo, and an interception.
Badin 35, Roger Bacon 2: Lem Grayson scored three rushing touchdowns, Carson Cheek and Zach Yordy added one apiece and Badin set a school record with its 32nd consecutive regular season victory.
Fairfield 38, Lakota East 35: Aiden McGuire booted the game-winning field goal with 11 seconds to play. Talon Fisher threw for 172 yards with two touchdowns to go with 147 rushing yards and three TDs for Fairfield. Lakota East’s Jamison Kitna passed for 228 yards and three TDs and ran for a score.
Lakota West 35, Middletown 0: Sam Wiles threw two touchdowns, Jackson Smith tossed one, and Brennan Remy caught two TDs to lead Lakota West.Jacob Asbeck highlighted the defense with a fumble return for a score.
Lebanon 45, Little Miami 10: Alex Klein rumbled for 112 yards with three touchdown runs to lead Lebanon on the ground. In the air Luke Faler passed for 213 yards with two TD throws and Kyle Koch hauled in eight passes for 132 yards and a score.
Chaminade Julienne 34, Franklin 28: Ethan Stacey scored with 32 seconds to play to give CJ the edge in a back-and-forth thriller.
Wilmington 36, Ross 34: Aiden Price hit Mikey Brown for the game-winning touchdown pass with nine seconds to play
Dayton Christian 42, New Miami 0: Dayton Christian picked up its first victory of the season.
Fenwick 34, Cin. Aiken 0: The Falcons improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2015.
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