3 min read

BRUNSWICK —It’s always something.

That was the case with the Edward Little football team Friday night.

With every drive that went somewhere and every momentum swing that went in favor of the Red Eddies, there was always some mistake the derailed everything.

As a result, what began as a hard-nosed and competitive effort by Edward Little ultimately became a 33-0 win by Brunswick.

“We couldn’t get any rhythm,” EL coach Dave Sterling said. “We had penalties that killed us. We have to be a better disciplined football team. That’s essentially what it comes down to.”

The Red Eddies were down 14-0 at the half. That was because of a 57-yard pass play from Jason Carter to Hunter Ouellette and a Jordan Rysdam run from the 4 late in the second quarter. Otherwise, EL was battling the Dragons for much of the first half.

Advertisement

EL had almost as much total yardage in the first half (187 to 174) but the Red Eddies were plagued by bad penalties and costly turnovers. EL lost two fumbles in the game and had an interception returned for a touchdown.

“Credit them,” Brunswick coach Dan Cooper said. “They really competed hard. They really pushed us around in the first half up front. That’s something that hasn’t happened this year to us. We’ve been able to push people around.”

Trailing 14-0 entering the second half, EL (1-3)  even stopped three straight Brunswick drives. EL couldn’t counter offensively and gave up three touchdowns in the final quarter.

“The second half, we had (three) more drives we stopped them on but again, we had offensive issues,” said Sterling. “We shot ourselves in the foot. Stopping a good run football team like that, we kept ourselves in the football game, but the errors that we had were too much to overcome.”

EL had moved the ball well on its second possession and got as close as the 37, but the drive stalled there. Brunswick struck big when it got the ball back. On its second play, Carter hit an open Ouellete for the 57-yard scoring play with 5:09 left in the first quarter.

“We could see they were loading up to stop the buck sweep,” Cooper said. “So we faked and went waggle strong. The guy was all alone back there.”

Advertisement

The was a blow for an EL team that had played well, but the Red Eddies came right back, producing a lengthy drive that got them to the 5. A false-start penalty on fourth-and-one and a run for a loss on the next play nixed that hope.

Brunswick (3-1) then marched down the field and finished it off with Rysdam’s run from the 4-yard line with 5:10 left in the half. Rysdam finished with 176 yards on 19 carries.

EL tried to answer again and got as close as the 17 before turning the ball over on a fumble.

“We moved the ball three drives on them, ” Sterling said abut the first half. “We still had plenty of momentum when we wanted momentum, but it was a matter of us shooting ourselves in the foot. Until we become a better disciplined football team, which we’ll work on, we’re going to have that issue.”

Though Brunswick couldn’t move on its first few possessions of the second half, EL couldn’t either. EL mustered just 28 yards on its first three possessions of the second half.

Darnell Hairston led EL with 91 yards on 17 carriers.

After Brunswick made it 20-0 on a Rysdam 45-yard run with 9:49 left, Trent Anderson picked off an EL pass and returned it 48 yards for the score. That made it 27-0 with 9:25 left. Brandon Nezol added a 14-yard run with 5:12 remaining.

“They extended so much energy in that first half trying to come out and be physical, they really wore out in the second half,” Cooper said.

[email protected]

Comments are no longer available on this story