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WOODSFIELD -- The Edison football team answered the challenge from Monroe Central in a big way last season, and it propelled the Wildcats to an undefeated regular season.
This season, the Wildcats are once again looking to start the season off on a positive note, while the Seminoles are looking to leave last season's difficulties in the past. Edison is looking to win its second straight season opener while Monroe Central is hoping to start the Jonathan Calder era off the win as the Wildcats hit the road to take on the Seminoles at 7 p.m. Friday night on their home field.
"I know Coach Calder likes to play a physical brand of football," Edison head coach Mike Collopy said. "He likes to put pressure on the offense and on the defense. He likes to blitz. It's old school football. It's run oriented with play-action pass.
"I know Coach (Jay) Circosta retired, but his presence is still felt this season as well as last season. They have a storied program. Coach wants them to get back to where they were."
Calder replaced Josh Ischy as head coach. Ischy led the Seminoles to a 2-8 season last season. Monroe Central lost its first five games last season, including a 42-8 loss in Week one to Edison out at the Edison Unified Sports Complex. The Seminoles drove right down the field and scored on their first possession of the game, however, the Wildcats tallied the final 42 points of the night.
"We are still striving to get better every day," Collopy said. "That is easier said than done. (Tuesday) was not our best day. A measure of a good team is how they handle adversity.
"Scrimmages are scrimmages. It comes down to what happened to get there. The results can be a little deceiving. I thought we had two good scrimmages, but we made a lot of mistakes, but they are correctable mistakes.
"We just have to get out and play.
"Complacency is the enemy of excellence. We just want to continue to get better. We want to improve daily. We have to have the right mindset. We want to continue to get better throughout the season."
The Seminoles may have struggled last season, however, Monroe Central does return some talent on both sides of the ball.
"Their quarterback Tucker Howell is dangerous," Collopy said. "They have a good tight end and a good receiver. Landen Lydick moved from running back to tight end. Carter Knowlton is a good receiver. They have got some good running backs. They are big upfront.
"Defensively, they like to mix up their fronts. They like to bring pressure. We have to be prepared for everything. They have two games on us, and we have two games on them.
"It's the season opener. We have to be prepared."
The game is the first of Edison's three straight road games to start the 2023 season.
"The opener is the opener," Collopy said. "It doesn't matter if it is home or away. We have a process for away games, and we will use that process since we are away.
"We want to have a good practice (today). We have to have a high intensity practice. We have to pay attention to detail. We have to be assignment sound. We have to be on the same page.
"We have had success in the offseason. We had success in the summer. Our camp went well. We did a good job with our doubles. Our doubles were challenging. They were not easy. We just want to continue to get better.
"The kids have to be coachable. We have to look at each other. We have to look at the man in the mirror, starting with me. I have to do everything I can to prepare the team.
"The coaches have to prepare their players. The players have to prepare themselves. We want to improve daily, but that is an easy thing to say and a very difficult thing to do."
Though the Wildcats won last year's meeting by 34 points, the Silver-and-Black are not looking past the Seminoles.
"It's their home opener," Collopy said. "They have a new coaching staff. No game is won anywhere but on the field. We are going to have to be prepared. We are going to get their best game."