EDWARDSVILLE – The road to a state championship is not an easy one. It's full of obstacles that have to be overcome on the way to lifting the trophy at the end of November.
One of those obstacles in the postseason is traveling long distances for a game.
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Edwardsville will be making such a journey for their IHSA Class 8A second-round game when they travel some 250 miles to the far southwest Chicago suburb of Oswego for a 6 p.m Saturday contest.
The Tigers are coming off a 23-20 first-round overtime win over Oak Park-River Forest at home last Friday night, while the Panthers also won thanks to a last-second field goal 10-9 at home over Joliet West last Friday.
The Panthers, from the Southwest Prairie Conference, offers plenty of size at the key positions and a direct style of football. “They're a smashmouth team,” Tiger coach Matt Martin said. “They have a big offensive line, tight end and running back with a good receiving corps and give you multiple looks on defense; they're a very well-coached team and solid special teams.
“We'll have to execute and limit our turnovers and mistakes; if we can limit our turnovers and play hard and smart, we'll be in a good position.”
The Tigers did learn some lessons in their win Friday, Martin felt. “We found a way to win last week,” Martin said.
The 10-0 Panthers feature an outstanding receiver in Elliott Pipkin, who has 40 catches for 622 yards and seven touchdowns on the year; Raymond Chmielinski follows with eight catches for 86 yards and a touchdown and Jamal Formby with seven catches for 134 yards. Throwing the ball to them is Levi Olson, who is 68-for-145 on the year for 988 yards and nine touchdowns with seven interceptions.
Drew White leads Oswego with 1,010 yards rushing on 187 carries with nine touchdowns and a long of 55 yards; Nick Marra trails with 436 yards on 81 carries with seven touchdowns and long of 56 yards. On defense, Matt Maruna leads all tacklers with 58 tackles with five for loss, with Noah Shannon leading with 11 tackles for loss and 53 tackles on the year. Shannon also has 3.5 sacks on the year, with Spencer Rowe and Dayne Millard each having three sacks on the season.
Dionte Rodgers leads the Tigers in rushing with 1,284 yards on 153 carries and a school single-season record of 24 touchdowns with a long run of 72 yards; he had two touchdowns last week against OPRF. Brenden Dickmann has 328 yards rushing on 71 carries and three touchdowns with a long run of 24 yards and has gone 49 for 92 passing for 720 yards and six touchdowns with seven interceptions.
Daval Torres leads the Tigers in receptions with 18 catches for 226 yards and a touchdown, with Dayleon Harris getting 11 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown. On defense, Nathan Kolesa leads all tacklers with 54 tackles with five for loss; A.J. Epenesa leads EHS with 11 tackles for loss and is equal first with Kolesa and Tate Rujawitz with two sacks each.
The winner of Saturday's game takes on the Homewood-Flossmoor-Glen Ellyn Glenbard West winner in the quarterfinals Nov. 11-12; the Homewood-Glenbard game is set for 1 p.m. Saturday in Glen Ellyn.
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