Edison Local - August 28, 2015

In an unusually cool evening for late August, the Blue and White quickly warmed things up a bit for their fans with a win over Edison Local 27-20, their first after eleven losses. In addition, it marked their first victory in the home opener since defeating Beaver Local in double over-time 16-10 on August 27, 2010.

Leading the charge for the locals was  Aaron Bombich with three TDs and quarterback Austin Mayfield who toted the ball 28 times for 160 yards. The junior signal caller also passed for 81 yards giving him 241 yards of total offense on the night.

Coach Josh Ludwig and his crew initially got on the board at the 2:05 mark in the second quarter when Mayfield found talented sophomore Kyle Walker on a 73-yard bomb followed by a Dylan Kidder conversion kick to make it 7-7. The visitors had scored on their previous possession when Joe Nave found Nick Glenn from 54 yards out and Dom Rogers converted to make it 7-0 in favor of the Silver and Black, just 20 seconds before the Mayfield-to-Walker TD.

Following intermission, Bombich’s first trip to pay dirt came on a 54-yard pass interception return with 7:30 remaining in the third quarter. The extra point kick failed, but before the period was over the speedy junior would find the end zone, once again. This time it was on a 30-yard sprint down the sidelines with 2:06 showing in the stanza. Despite the failure of a two-point conversion attempt, the Blue and White had taken the lead for the first time, 20-19.

Success was short-lived, however, as Nick Glenn hauled in the ensuing kickoff on the ten and returned it 90 yards  for six points to make it 20-19 in favor of the visitors. A two-point conversion pass failed with 1:51 to play in the third.

The locals, then, put the icing on the cake when Bombich scored on a seven-yard run and Mayfield used his talents on a QB keeper for two conversion points to make it 27-20 in favor of the Potters with 8:28 to play.

The teams went back-and-forth for the remainder of the game with the Cats getting as close as the EL 33 with 2:37 to play before Ryan Bombich took a page from his younger brother’s play book and picked off a Joe Nave pass with the ball the EL 33, to ice the game which ended at 10:10 p.m.

COACH’S COMMENTS:

“Ecstatic. I’m happy for the kids and the staff, “ second-year coach Josh Ludwig said following the game. “The kids worked hard. It’s a surreal thing.
“We will meet with the coaches and team members tomorrow morning to review the films and prepare for Indian Creek. The reserves will travel to Edison on Monday rather than Saturday as Week Two unfolds.”

DIGGER’S DUGOUT:

Aaron Bombich, the younger brother of two-year letterman Ryan, scored three times in the contest. First with a 54-yard pass interception return followed by a 30-yard dash from scrimmage and, finally, with a seven-yard plunge. 

Edison brought a formidable team to town coached by Oak Glen alum, Derrick Stickles. Jason Duke, a member of the ELHS Class of 1999, serves as the team’s offensive coordinator.
Junior Austin Mayfield with 160 yards passing combined with 81 stripes rushing ended the game with 241 total offensive yards. Robert Jackson with 477 yards vs. St. Clairsville in 1998 is the leader.

Almost unnoticed during the week was the death of George Hale, arguably one of the top running backs in ELHS history. A member of the Class of 1958, Hale stands fourth on the all-time career scoring chart with 183 points and first in total yardage with 2,216. His 31 points against Berea in 1957 is the most ever in a single game and his 20.3 average per carry vs. Salem in 1957 will be difficult to surpass,

Following his appearance in several all-star games, George went on to play for Woody Hayes at The Ohio State University.