EDWARDSVILLE – When it comes to Southwestern Conference football, each season is a long, hard road that can be filled with any number of pitfalls.
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Defending champion Edwardsville knows that all too well as they prepare to embark on a new league campaign, one that begins against Collinsville at 7 tonight at Tiger Stadium.
The Tigers enter the game at 2-0, having defeated Quincy at home on opening night and Rock Island on the road last week. The Kahoks come in at 0-2, having dropped non-conference decisions to Belleville Althoff and Triad by a total of three points.
“Whether you win or lose, you can always find good things and bad things,” said Tiger coach Matt Martin. “You always want to improve on the bad things and cut down on your mistakes. What we really need to do is cut down our turnovers if we're going to have success.”
Collinsville has a new coach who is familiar to area football fans: Rick Reinhardt, who returned to the area after seven years at east-central Illinois school Tuscola. Reinhardt has coached previously at Civic Memorial and Marquette before the stint at Tuscola.
“They've got some good skill players and some very physical linebackers,” Martin said, “and their quarterback (Jordan Reichert) is very tough. We've definitely got a challenge coming up this week.”
Several players have stood out for the Tigers so far this year. “Jordan Jones has really played well,” Martin said. “Our offensive line is young but coming around nicely, which is good; they've still got a lot to learn. Our wide receivers are blocking very nicely, and A.J. Epenesa and Nathan Kolesa have done well.”
The SWC schedule, as always, is a difficult one. “All of our conference games are very tough,” Martin said. “You can't let up against any of the teams.
“What we want to do this week is limit our mistakes and turnovers; that's been the goal this week," he said.
