Dominic Imwalle ’16
Yes, everyone doubts the St. Edward Football team after two loses in a row. Fans don’t tend to  understand  the adversity that the team has faced. After three solid wins in a row at home and a #1 national ranking according to Maxpreps, the football team was on top of the game and losing would never be seen with the team. The Eagles never let the rankings or the publicity get to them, it was only about getting better every day after school. On the road Week 4 going down to “the pit” home of Cincinnati Elder facing a great challenge as their first week on the road. They took a tough loss in a nail biter 21-14, facing the electric atmosphere and the controversial calls made by the referees. After the hours of critical film it was time for them to move onto the next opponent, Bergen Catholic from New Jersey.
The game was played at a local community park in New Jersey that was equipped with a turf field. The bus trip which left at 7:00 am on Friday would not get the team to New Jersey until 6:00 pm including a stop for a walk through at Penn State. The rough bus ride had the team dead asleep in the hotel on friday night. After team meals and walk throughs during the day Saturday the team looked prepared to take on a tough Bergen Catholic at 7 saturday night. The eagles came out flying but were stopped in the red zone and forced to take a field goal in the first quarter. The game continued to be a battle on field with questionable calls all across the board. The eagles eventually left empty handed and were back on buses to the hotel with a excruciating loss 14-10. The eagles now faced with a long bus ride home sunday and now a must win attitude for the rest of the season.
As the next week came it happened to be a short week with another away game at Youngstown State on a friday night. The eagles would take on a 4-1 Cardinal Mooney team who would put up a battle. The battle only lasted throughout the first quarter as the eagles finished with a 7-0 lead. Big performances from Cole Gets on the offensive side of the ball and on the defensive side Troy Dipre at outside linebacker and Andrew Dowell at Safety stood out and held Mooney to only 6 points the whole night. Junior Eric Shaver impressed many by stepping up when Senior Matt Carandang tweaked his hip. As the eagles looked like a wounded animal before the game with their backs to the wall they came out and played football like they had practiced all summer. This was a big momentum push into the next week as the eagles take on Canada Prep Academy. Eagles look to keep their playoff push alive in these continuing weeks with tough opponents Ignatius and Cincinnati Moeller.