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RICHMOND -- The season has not turned out the way the Edison and Harrison Central football teams would have liked for it to have gone.
The Wildcats and Huskies enter this week's matchup trying to stop the bleeding as Edison has lost three-straight games, while the Huskies have lost six straight.
The two teams will get the chance when Edison and Harrison Central face off at 7 p.m. Friday night out at the Edison Unified Sports Complex.
Edison enters play this week coming off a heartbreaking 29-28 loss to Warren last week at home on Homecoming.
"It feels like our kids have given their best effort all season long," Edison (2-6) head coach Mike Collopy said. "We lost the game. It was nobody's fault. They just made a couple more plays than we did."
Friday night was a tough one for the Wildcats as Boe DeNoon sustained an injury during the game.
"Boe is doing good," Collopy said.
The Silver-and-Black has faced their share of adversity this season. In Week 6, Edison's Easton Willoughby was injured during the fourth quarter of his team's game against Toronto at Clarke Hinkle Field. Willoughby was carted off the field on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to a local hospital. Willoughby ended up at UPMC before returning home the following day. The Red Knights ended up defeating the Wildcats, 40-25, in that game.
"It is late in the season, and we have our bumps and bruises, just like every team," Collopy said. "Every team has its bumps and bruises. We're just moving along. Injuries are never good. You always prepare for the worst as a coach. You have to have guys ready to step up. We have had guys step up and do a good job, and we are going to continue to have guys step up."
On the other side, Harrison Central comes into the game coming off a 34-0 loss to Bellaire last Friday at home out at Wagner Field on Homecoming.
"Upfront, they are very physical," Harrison Central (1-7) head coach Anthony Hayes said about the Big Reds. "They have two good running backs in (Raekwon) Pettigrew and (Trevor) Dowery. There was an eight or nine minute stretch where we fell apart, and they ended up scoring four touchdowns. Outside of that, the game was fairly even. We played well. In the second half, our kids came out and played hard. Our defense stiffened. I don't think they scored in the second half.
"We just have spurts where we let down. It is not the fault of our effort. Our effort has been good. When you make mental mistakes or alignment mistakes and you couple that with being young and inexperienced, when you miss, that is going to lead to six points the other way."
The Wildcats and the Huskies are very familiar with each other.
"It is always a good game whenever we play," Hayes said. "You have the close proximity of us to each other, and I think our school districts are similar."
Every team the Huskies have played through the first weeks of the season has a winning record. Barnesville and Claymont are both 8-0 on the season, and Martins Ferry and Union Local are both 7-1. The Purple Riders handed the Jets their lone loss of the season, while the Shamrocks defeated the Purple Riders Friday night giving Martins Ferry its only loss of the season.
"Their schedule has been really tough," Collopy said. "They have definitely battle tested. They have played Barnesville, Union Local, Claymont, Martins Ferry and Indian Creek. They are playing good teams week in and week out."
The Wildcats have some playmakers on offense.
"They do what they have been doing for the last seven or eight years," Hayes said. "They have a really-good running back (Brett Hellyer). He has been starting for three years. He is what I call a gamebreaker. He can go for some long runs. He can run the ball, cutback and then be going. He's dangerous. He has good speed. He can take a simple run off tackle and take it to the house.
Their quarterback (Bryson Cunningham) is elusive. He can run the ball. He is very mobile. He can thrown the ball. He throws a nice ball.
"Upfront, they are typical Edison. They are fast, and they are physical."
The boys from Harrison Central have some good athletes on the offensive side of the ball.
"They have an extremely athletic quarterback," Collopy said. "They have some nice wide receivers with Lance Smith and No. 4 (Colson Crothers). They have a couple big tight ends. They have a good running backs. No. 10 (Olin Wade) runs really hard. They play extremely hard from the first whistle to the last whistle on both sides of the ball."
Edison's defense has kept the boys from Jefferson County in most of the games they have played so far this season.
"They are solid," Hayes said. "Coach Collopy does a good job running their defense. They don't do anything fancy. They lineup and play defense. They run a four-man front. They like to bring pressure from their linebackers. Their secondary won't let you beat them deep. They will let you catch the ball in front of them and then make the tackle. They are fundamentally sound. Their defensive ends can bring pressure, and their defensive tackles clog up the gaps."
Defensively, the Huskies have allowed 34 or more points seven times this season.
"They run an odd front," Collopy said. "They will mix up their looks. They will send pressure. What stood out on film is they play extremely hard from the first whistle to the last whistle."
The Wildcats know what it is going to take to be successful Friday night.
"We need to play a complete game on offense, defense and special teams," Collopy said. "We have not played a game where both sides were clicking – offense and defense – along with special teams. Our special teams have been consistent this season. We just need to play a complete game. I know I sound redundant or I say the same thing every week, but it is true.
"Offensively, we are going to have to take care of the football. We are going to have to stay on schedule. We are going to have to stay in front of the sticks. We are going to have to convert on third down.
"Defensively, we are going to have to stop the run. We are going to have to be assignment and alignment sound. We are going to have to cover on the back end. Their quarterback likes to scramble, so we are going to have to know where he is at, and we are going to have to get off the field on third down. Offensively, we are going to have to convert on third down, and defensively we are going to have to be able to get off the field."
The Huskies have been hit hard by the injury bug this season.
"It's the same story we have had all year," Hayes said. "We are trying to get healthy. It seems like every time we get a kid back, we lose another one.
"We have to figure out how to eliminate those spurts. We have spurts for five, six, eight or nine minutes where teams will run off three scores on us, and we have to dig ourselves out of a hole. We are not able to score fast, so it makes it hard for us to keep up. It puts a lot of strain on our defense. We have to play at a pace we aren't comfortable at. We have to make them snap the ball. We have to make them snap the ball over and over and over and over again. We have to make teams go on 12 or 13 play drives and not one-play or four-play drives. We can't allow two-play drives where they go 60-yards for a score. We have to make them continue to snap the ball."
Edison enters this week's game ranked No. 20 in the Ohio Division V, Region 17 playoff rankings, while Harrison Central sits at No. 23. The Huskies have been eliminated from playoff contention.
"I am looking forward to playing a football game on Friday night," Hayes said.
Edison defeated Harrison Central, 35-19, last season on the road out at Wagner Field.