Photo courtesy Rich Cernansky SIX THE HARD WAY — Edison quarterback Joe Nave dives into the end zone for a touchdown during the first half of Friday’s game with visiting Beaver Local. The Beavers won, 28-14.

RICHMOND — Beaver Local’s ability to make big plays was the difference Friday night against Edison.

The Beavers scored three touchdowns on plays of at least 39 yards en route to a 28-14 victory over the Wildcats at Cartwright Memorial Field to spoil Homecoming for Edison.

“That is the story of the night,” Edison (2-2) head coach Derrick Stickles said. “They made big plays. We could not eliminate the big play. That has been the story of our season.”

Beaver Local also had runs of 53 and 55 yards in the game, and the victors scored on their first offensive play of the game as well as on their second offensive play in the third quarter.

“There were big plays on both sides of the ball,” Beaver Local (2-2) head coach Jeremy McElroy said. “My hat is off to Edison. They made some big plays. They played hard for four quarters.”

Beaver Local tallied 437yards on 44 plays. The Beavers ran for 434 yards and threw for three yards.

Torey Calio collected 169 yards on 15 carries to lead the way, while Michael Clendenning netted 125 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.

“We did not do a great job of tackling,” Stickles said. “We need to do a better job of protecting the quarterback. We did not have a lot of penalties, but we made them at crucial times. We need to do a better job protecting the quarterback, we have to be more disciplined and defensively we need to do a better job of tackling.”

Clendenning scored touchdowns on runs of 48 and 39 yards, Bouscher scored on a 52-yard scamper and Adkins plowed in from the 1, but the touchdown was set up by his 55-yard run down to the 1.

“They were selling out to stop our run game on the inside,” McElroy said. “We were able to get through there a couple of times. We did a nice job of getting through their line, and we were able to make some big plays.

“It was a good high school football game.”

Edison amassed 272 yards of offense on 53 plays. The Wildcats ran for 133 yards and threw for 119.

“They did what we expected them to do,” McElroy said.

Dual-threat quarterback Joey Nave led the way for the Wildcats. Nave completed 12 of 18 passes for 119 yards to go along with one touchdown and one interception. The senior signal caller also ran for 75 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.

Dom Rogers recorded five catches for 97 yards and a touchdown.

“It was a game between two pretty-evenly matched teams,” Stickles said. “The outcome was going to be determined by which team could eliminate the big play and make the fewest mistakes. We made more mistakes than they did.

“I have to do a better job of getting my kids prepared to play. As the head coach, this one is on me. The kids did an incredible job. The kids work hard. I have to do a better job of coming up with a practice plan so these kids will be more prepared to play.”

Both teams moved the ball well Friday night, but the Beavers were able to capitalize on their drives thanks to their big plays.

“The kids played hard,” Stickles said. “They did an incredible job. Whenever you don’t win, you learn from it. We are going to learn from this and move on.”

After an Edison punt, Clendenning broke through the Wildcats defense en route to a 49-yard touchdown run. The extra point was no good, but the Beavers led, 6-0, with 9:58 left to play in the first quarter.

Edison answered with a 57-yard drive to score. Nave capped the march with a 5-yard scoring scamper, and Dom Rogers booted the PAT to put the Wildcats out in front, 7-6.

The Beavers regained the lead late in the first half. Facing 4th-and-short at their own 43, Terry Adkins broke through the Edison defense en route to a 55-yard down to the 1. Two plays later, Adkins muscled his way into the end zone, and Clendenning ran in for the 2-point conversion to put the Beavers back in front, 14-7, 36 seconds before halftime.

Cade returned the Beaver Local kick off more than 50 yards, and after penalties on both teams were walked off, Edison took over at the Beaver Local 33.

All it took was one play for the Wildcats to reach paydirt.

On the play, Nave hooked up with Rogers for a 33-yard touchdown, and Rogers split the uprights on the extra point to tie the score at 14 with 22 seconds before halftime.

“We are a good football team,” Stickles said. “We are going to win some more games. We just have a few things we have to fix.”

The Beavers regained the advantage early in the second half thanks to two runs by Clendenning. Beaver Local took over position of the ball at their own 40. On the first play, Clendenning ran for 21 yards to the Edison 39, and he scored on a run on the next play to make the score 20-14. This time, Drew Theiss converted the extra point to give the Beavers a 21-14 lead with 11:25 remaining in the third quarter.

Trailing by a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, Edison had a golden opportunity to tie the score, but the Wildcats let it slip through their grasp. Facing 4th-and-6 at the Beaver Local 24, Nave threw a perfect pass to an open receiver in the end zone, but the ball was dropped keeping the score 21-14.

After stopping the Beavers on downs, the Wildcats took over the ball at their own 28 with 5:16 left to go in the game, but they to turned the ball over on downs as Beaver Local took over at its own 45.

Three plays later, Bouscher broke free for a 52-yard touchdown, and Theiss once again converted the extra point to make the score 28-14 with 2:29 left to play in the game.

“Coach McElroy and his offensive coordinator called the right play at the right time,” Stickles said.

Edison visits undefeated Union Local next week.

“It is going to be another tough game,” Stickles said. “We are going to come in tomorrow and watch film and get ready for Union Local.”

Beaver Local 28, Edison 14

Beaver Local     6  8  7  7  —  28

Edison     7  7  0  0  —  14

BL: Clendenning 48 run (kick fail), 9:58

ED: Nave 5 run (Rogers kick), 3:09

BL: Adkins 1 run (Clendenning run), :36

ED: Rogers 33 pass from Nave (Rogers kick), :22

BL: Clendenning 39 run (Theiss kick), 11:25

BL: Bouscher 52 run (Theiss kick), 2:29

RUSHING: Beaver Local 42-434 4TDs (Bouscher 7-70 TD, Calio 15-169, Clendenning 12-152 2TDs, Adkins 3-56 TD, Givens 5-14); Edison 35-133 TD (Nave 14-75 TD, Cade 6-2, Pappas 13-50, Waggoner 2-6.).

PASSING: Beaver Local 1-2-3-0-0 (all by Bouscher); Edison 12-18-139-1-1 (all by Nave).

RECEIVING: Beaver Local Givens 1-3; Edison Rogers 5-97 TD, Cade 4-11, Waggoner 1-3, Pappas 1-11, Westling 1-17.

FIRST DOWNS: Beaver Local 11; Edison 14.

PENALTIES-YARDS: Beaver Local 10-75; Edison 5-44.

FUMBLES-LOST: Beaver Local 0-0; Edison 1-1.