HIGHLAND - Both Jordan Bush and Kellen Brnfre ran for two touchdowns, with Brnfre scoring on a 69-yard punt return in the first quarter, while sophomore quarterback Jake Curry threw for two more touchdowns as Edwardsville defeated Highland 41-33 in a close and very entertaining week two game played Friday night at Highland Stadium.
The Tigers bounced back from a 44-17 loss to DeSmet Jesuit last Friday, and were able to take the Bulldogs' best shots and showed much resiliency in going on tot the win.
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"I feel like we needed a win," said Edwardsville head coach Matt Martin, "and our kids found a way to win. We did a lot of good things, there's a lot of things we need to fix, but I'm proud of them. It was a good win for us today."
Many players had big games throughout the Tigers, and Martin was very proud of their efforts, and also praised the efforts of the Bulldogs.
"Yeah, there's a lot of kids, and I want to compliment Highland," Martin said. "I thought their kids were hard-nosed kids, fought their tails off, I think they're a well-coached program. I always knew Jimmy (Warnecke, the Bulldogs' head coach) and his staff were good, and I got to see it first-hand, so congratulations to a hard-fought football game tonight."
The game plan was a tried-and-true formula for the Tigers.
"Our game plan was to limit mistakes," Martin said, "win the turnover battle, be better tacklers, things like that."
The defenses held the first two possessions of the game, and Highland was forced to punt on its opening drive. Brnfre fielded the ball, got a good block and took off down the far side 69 yards for the touchdown three minutes in the game to make it 6-0, with Gavin Walls' kick bounding off the right side upright to keep the score where it was.
Undaunted, the Bulldogs went to work on the next possession, with quarterback Brent Wuebbels completing three key passes in the drive to keep things alive. Travis Porter scored from four yards out up the middle to climax the 10-play, 78-yard drive to give Highland a 7-6 lead after Joey Geromiller's conversion.
After an exchange of punts, Bush picked up 26 yards on the first two plays of the Tigers' possession, while Curry hit on key passes to sustain the drive, finishing with Bush's first touchdown of the night, a seven-yard run with 11:55 left in the first half to give Edwardsville a 13-7 lead.
The next Tigers' score came from a three-play drive, with Curry throwing 24 yards to David Deuanephenh to give the Tigers a 20-7 lead with 8:44 left in the first half. Highland countered with a 65-yard touchdown pass from Wuebbels to Gabe Marti, who made a nice move to get around a defender and scored to make it 20-14 after the conversion. Edwardsville then came back to score again, Curry passing 29 yards to Beau Brandt for another touchdown to increase the lead to 27-14 with 5:56 to go in the half.
The Bulldogs then took advantage of a very short field after an interception, with Wuebbels going in from five yards away to make the halftime score 27-21 Edwardsville. The Tigers did have one last chance to increase the lead, but Walls missed on a 35-yard field goal attempt before halftime.
The Bulldogs had the first possession of the second half, and drove the field well, using up nearly four minutes, but Edwardsville held, and on their first possession, went 77 yards in nine plays, with Brnfre taking a pitch and going in the end zone from 11 yards away to make the score 34-21 after the conversion. Highland countered immediately, going 80 yards after the kickoff, and scoring when Porter took a pitch from Wuebbels and scored from two yards out to make it 34-27 after the conversion was missed.
Edwardsville scored on its next possession, going 45 yards in 10 plays after being set up by a great Brnfre return to the Highland 45. Bush scored from six yards out to climax the drive with 10:55 left in the final quarter to give the Tigers a 41-27 lead. The Bulldogs then went on a late drive, scoring on Porter's one-yard run with 2:40 left in regulation, but a two-point convert missed, leaving the score 41-33. The Tigers were able to get a key first down on the final possession and run the clock out to give Edwardsville the hard-fought win.
The Tigers are now 1-1 and have their home opener next Friday night against Champaign Central at Tiger Stadium. Kickoff time is set for 7 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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