WOOD RIVER – The football team at East Alton-Wood River High School bounced back from a loss last week to Civic Memorial in a big way, as Brody Newberry ran 11 times for 188 yards and three touchdowns, Ryan Dawson chipped in with 53 yards on the ground and a touchdown, and quarterback Kenny Beachum threw for two scores as the Oilers won over visiting Madison 48-6 in a Prairie State Conference opener Friday night at EAWR Memorial Stadium.
EAWR took a quick lead on the first play from scrimmage, as Newberry took off on an 81-yard touchdown run, and never looked back in getting their first conference win of the year against the Trojans.
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“We told the kids last week that we really needed to learn from that game,” said Oilers head coach Garry Herron, “and the kids went out and scored on the first play, and that set the tone for the rest of the night on offense. It was great to get a big win after the loss last week.”
Beachum was two-for-three passing for 66 yards and the two touchdowns, both to Dawson and Brandon Noel, from 27 and 39 yards respectively. It was their only catches of the game.
Defensively, Dylen Oster had five tackles, one for a loss, and a pair of assists in leading a dominant performance against Madison, a team that’s qualified for the IHSA Class 1A playoffs in its opening two years since the program was started back up in 2017.
Herron knows that there’s still quite a bit of work left to do for the Oilers, but the offense showed vast improvement.
“We still have some things to work on, and there’s always room for improvement,” Herron said. “But we had a big improvement on offense. It’s a conference win, so it’s always to get that, and get a win right off the bat.”
EAWR is now 2-1 overall and goes on the road next week to play Marquette Catholic in a 7 p.m. kickoff at Public School Stadium. Herron is looking ahead to the challenges that lie ahead for the Oilers.
“The competition’s going to get better the next couple of weeks,” Herron said, “and we have to get prepared, and keep fighting and winning.”
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
