EDWARDSVILLE – Riley Patterson is as accurate as any place kicker in the region and is a key to Edwardsville’s football and soccer success.
Patterson is a rare case, participating in two high school sports at the same time. He is also a member of the Tigers’ soccer team. He rarely misses a field goal or a extra point attempt on the football field.
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Edwardsville head football coach Matt Martin describes Patterson as “ tremendous athlete.”
“It takes maturity to be able to work between practices of football and soccer,” Coach Martin said. “Coach Heiderscheid has been great to work with about it. We have had a few others who have done it in the past. Sometimes he gets his work in, even though it’s not with the team, while we are watching film.”
Martin definitely sees Patterson as a legitimate college prospect. He is also a punter and is strong in that area, averaging close to 40 yards per punt. Patterson has not made a final college decision yet.
"I have a full-ride (football scholarship) offer from the University of Memphis (Issac Bruce's alma mater),” Patterson said after a recent game.
Patterson said sometimes the practices take a toll on his legs, but both coaches are completely supportive.
“Football is first, but I want to play soccer as long as I can. They (Matt Martin and Mark Heiderscheid) do a great job (of coordinating schedules for him to practice and play) and the effort they put in to help me be able to help both teams is really awesome."
Martin also describes Patterson as easy to work with for both coaches.
“I have never had a problem with Riley,” he said. “It takes a lot of maturity to do what he is doing.”
The Edwardsville coach said the Tigers’ coaching staff all work well together as a team and this is just another example.
“Occasionally I have families come and talk to me about the school district or want to live in the area and they talk about our program,” Martin said. “I very quickly talk about academics and I also tell them if your sons or daughters play other sports there is not one other coach in our system I wouldn’t recommend. Dr. Hightower, Dr. Andre and our Principal Dr. Cramsey have been very supportive of our program and getting good people.”
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