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RICHMOND -- The Edison football team was dejected following last Friday night's loss heartbreaking, 7-3, loss to East Liverpool.
The Wildcats led, 3-0, late in the fourth quarter, however, the Potters scored a touchdown with a little more than a minute left to play in the game before making a fourth-down stop just outside of the red zone to secure the victory.
"I just think we need to come together," Edison (2-5) head coach Mike Collopy said. "We have to prepare the right way. We have to continue to play for each other. We have to be accountable. We have to be disciplined. We have to be focused. I thought we had a really-good practice today. I talked to some of the guys after practice, and the groundwork has been laid. Hopefully, it can continue for the rest of the week, and we are prepared for Friday. It just like any other week – it's a one-game season. We are going to have to be ready to go. We had a really-good practice today, but we need tomorrow to be even better."
The Wildcats will look to get back on track with a win this week on Homecoming as Edison will take on Warren at 7 p.m. Friday night at home out at the Edison Unified Sports Complex.
"They have a very-athletic quarterback," Collopy said. "Their backs are big. They do a nice job of running the ball. Their quarterback is electric. It doesn't matter if it is a designed run or if he is able to get out of the pocket. He is a run-pass threat. They have nice-sized wideouts. They have nice linebackers. They are big upfront. They play a tough schedule. They aren't playing inferior opponents. It is going to be another tough test Friday night."
The Warriors are also 2-5 on the season, and Warren enters this week's game coming off a 44-18 loss last week at John Marshall.
"I don't think we have played them before," Collopy said.
Warren's two victories this season have come against Morgan and Hillsboro.
"Offensively, I would say they are balanced," Collopy said. "They want to get the ball to the edge. They want to get the ball to the perimeter. They can run or pass. Their quarterback is dynamic with the ball in his hands."
The boys from Washington County have lost games this season to Union Local, Logan, Eastern, Athens as well as John Marshall.
"They mix it up," Collopy said about the Warriors defensive strategy. "They run an odd front, but they will give you different looks. They will bring pressure."
Edison is going to have to play well in all three phases of the game to be successful against Warren.
"We are going to have to play well in all three phases of the game," Collopy said. "With special teams, we are going to have to be assignment sound. Defensively, we are going to have to improve on our open-field tackling. We have to know our assignment, and we are going to have to execute. Offensively, we have to sustain drives. We are going to have to convert on third down. We can't have penalties. We have done a good job of cutting those back. We are going to have to continue to do that."
Homecoming is a special night, the Wildcats want to top it off with a win against the Warriors in front of some of Edison's alumni.
"There are a couple of things going on this week," Collopy said. "There are going to be things through Saturday when it is the dance, but I told the team, the most important thing is the game. We are going to have alumni coming in from different places. We want to represent them and the school the best we can. We want to play hard, we want to play physical and we want to play together. No matter where they are coming from, we want to be the type of team they can relate to."
Edison enters play this week in 19th place in the Ohio Division V, Region 17 playoff rankings.