EDWARDSVILLE – The Edwardsville High School varsity football team made its 2018 season debut in the annual Orange and Black scrimmage held Friday night at Tiger Stadium, climaxing an afternoon and evening of football to kick off the upcoming year.
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In addition to the varsity scrimmage, the annual football carnival also featured scrimmages with the Tigers’ freshman and sophomore teams, a scrimmage between Lincoln and Liberty Middle Schools and many of the Edwardsville Little Tiger teams scrimmaging.
Edwardsville head coach Matt Martin saw many positives during the varsity scrimmage as the Tigers prepare for its season opener.
“Nobody got hurt; that’s a positive,” Martin said. “I thought we had some kids playing physical; there were some big hits out there. They were hustling, playing hard. A lot of positives. Execution, obviously, needs to improve, but a lot of positives. Everyone got to play, that’s a positive.”
Many players stood out during the 60-minute scrimmage. Martin singled out juniors Ben Strotheide, Evan Ramirez and Jacob Morrissey, along with senior quarterback Kendall Abdur-Rahman and running back Dionte Rodgers for praise.
“I saw Ben Strotheide on a kickoff get a big hit,” Martin said. “I saw Morrissey and Ramirez get big hits on defense. I thought Kendall had some good runs, Dionte had a couple of good catches and runs after the catch. So, a lot of positives.”
Of course, Martin and his staff will know more after watching the films of the scrimmage.
“It’s usually never as good or as bad as you think,” Martin said with a smile. “You’ve got to watch film.”
Overall, Martin was happy with how things proceeded, and can take many positives going into the practices which lead up to the season opener.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of positives,” Martin said. “Like I said, nobody got hurt, kids were playing hard, they were being physical. That’s positive. Execution has to improve.”
The Tigers play their first game of the new season next Friday night at home against McCluer North of Florissant, Mo. The kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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