Despite playoff loss, ‘22 season was Edison’s best
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RICHMOND -- The Edison football team had the best season in school history, however, it ended in disappointment.
This season, the Wildcats won the OVAC Class 4A title, went undefeated in the Buckeye 8, won 10 straight games for the first time, won 10 games for the first time and went undefeated in the regular season for the first time.
Edison's 10-0 regular season earned the boys from Jefferson County the No. 4 seed in the Ohio Division V Region 17 playoffs and a date with No. 13 seed Cardinal Mooney in the first round of the playoffs Friday night at home at the Edison Unified Sports Complex.
The Wildcats trailed the Cardinals, 14-7, late in the first half, however, the boys from Mahoning County scored the next 31 points to build a 45-7 advantage en route to winning the game, 45-14, via mercy rule.
"The big thing that came out of Friday night as we made too many mistakes," Edison (10-1) head coach Mike Collopy said. "We made mistakes that you can't afford to make against good teams like that. We made mistakes that made it hard on ourselves."
After the hosts scored to pull within 14-7, the visitors marched right down the field for a touchdown to take a 21-7 lead at halftime. Then after stopping Edison on its first drive of the second half, Mooney took over at the hosts 27 after a short punt. The victors tacked on a field goal, and they never looked back.
Those two scores made a big difference in the outcome of the game.
"Yeah, we gave them a short field," Collopy said. "They hit a couple of big pass attempts. Then, we came out in the second half and it was more self-inflicted wounds. We gave them a short field. Our defense stood tall. Our defense put up a huge fight, but we just made too many mistakes."
It was a disappointing way for the season end, however, the Wildcats have no reason to hang their heads.
"We told them one game does not define a season," Collopy said asked what he told his team after the game. "They played really hard against a really good team.
"Today is move on Monday. Everybody has moved on to their next sport.
"We did a lot of things no Edison team has ever done before. We won the OVAC title. We went undefeated in the regular season. In terms of scoring offense and defense, we were ranked in the state.
"I'm really, really proud of the guys. They came in every day with the goal of to improve as a team. We took every team's best shot for 10 weeks. That is hard to do. This is the first time we have done that.
"I know it stings now, but there will come a time when they can look back on the season and realize the type of season that they had."
Though the game was Friday night, Collopy has not watched the whole film from the loss to Mooney.
"I'm not going to say I watched the whole game," Collopy said. "I have watched a good bit of it. It's tough. You are watching the last game of your season. It's like a crash landing. It is tough watching a loss when it means the end of your season. It is like a scab that's starting to heal, and then you rip right back open.
"There will be a time when I take a look at that. It is a learning experience. You learn whether you win or lose. I will have the opportunity to look at that, and use it to help us improve for next year."
Edison won each of its first nine games via mercy rule with the running clock in effect. The exception was Edison's 28-7 victory in Week 10 against rival Indian Creek at Kettlewell Stadium in the annual Route 43 Bowl.
Offensively, the Wildcats scored 427 points in the regular season for an average of 42.7 points per game. Defensively, Edison only allowed 73 points in the regular season for an average of 7.3 points per game. Early in the season, the team went more than 11 quarters without allowing a point.
Edison had a nice-sized roster this season to work with.
"We had 54 (players)," Collopy said.
Eight of the 54 were seniors.
"We had eight seniors, and out of those eight seniors five out of the eight were 0-10 as freshmen," Collopy said. "I'm really happy for them.
"The coaches said Saturday when we met that each one of them improved every year. They became good players. They became good role players. They became players we could depend on. I'm happy for them.
"Your end goal is to win the last game you play, and we did not do that. That's disappointing.
"Today was move on Monday, and the kids are moving on to their next sport. With football, you have a mandatory dead period, but once our banquet is over in December, we are going to go right back to work."
The seniors were the leaders of the team.
"We had a really good group of seniors," Collopy said. "They led us all the way. I think we had a strong group of seniors, and we also had a strong group of returning players. They were the glue to our team. Regardless of what they had done individually statistically, the end goal was to win.
"They were able to separate what they wanted as individuals to help the team. That is the definition of mental toughness. You put aside what is best for you individually to do what is best for the team. I'm really proud of the guys.
"With any good team, you have a good individuals, but the embody the team concept. Everybody had a turn out there.
"I am proud of their attitudes. They have had good attitudes since Day 1. They allowed us to coach them hard. They allowed us to push their limits to what they may have not known.
"That is a credit to their parents. We have great parents here at Edison. They allow us to coach their kids hard. Some times, parents can get involved in what is going on. Our parents let us coach their kids. There is a relationship between players and coaches and also between coaches and parents."
Several underclassmen played key roles for the Wildcats this season. Collopy said he was happy with how the younger players progressed throughout the season.
"Sure," he said "We started some sophomores and some juniors. You never talk about a player's age. You play the best players. You ask how they will fit best into your scheme offensively, defensively and on special teams.
"One area where we improved was our football intelligence. We started to understand why we were doing the things we were doing. We need all our kids to have that type of intelligence. We need them to understand the game of football.
"You have to realize football is the ultimate team sport. You can have 10 players playing really well, but if you have one breakdown, you can get exposed.
"Football intelligence is a big thing. We are going to get right back to work."
The game was Cardinal Mooney's first at Edison's turf field, and the Cardinals were impressed by what they saw.
"That is a credit to our administration, our school board and our community," Collopy said about Mooney's fans being impressed with all the Wildcats' facilities at the high school. "Everyone joined together. Everyone was united to give us the facilities we have here at Edison.
"Our goal is to field a team the community can get behind. I hope we were able to do that.
"Mooney is an outstanding program. They have had a lot of success year in and year out.
"We want to be held in that same breath. That may be a crazy goal, but if you told people Edison would make the playoffs and be undefeated and play Cardinal Mooney, a lot of people would be happy with that. We're not.
"We are disappointed. We did not play well enough to give ourselves an opportunity to win. We want to continue to make strides.
"We want to get over that hump. We want to win that first one. Once you win that first one, your chance of reaching your ultimate goal comes closer and closer. We are going to use that to motivate us in the offseason.
"We have weight lifting as part of our school day. You would have thought it was our first day with their attitudes. They were getting after it. They are working hard.
"Once we have our banquet in December, we are going to go right back to work."