Now that the Ohio High School Football Season has concluded, with Pickerington Central winning their first title over the Mentor Cardinals, who defeated the Eagles in the Regional Semifinals, let’s review the 2017 St. Edward Football Season.
The Eagles finished their season much earlier than anticipated at 10-2 with a shocking early playoff loss delivered by the Mentor Cardinals. According to MaxPreps High School Football Rankings, the Eagles finished at #74 nationally and #10 in the state. During the season, however, they were ranked as high as #13 nationally and #1 in the state of Ohio (MaxPreps Rankings). Big wins over Elder, Cathedral (Indianapolis, IN), and Moeller helped us to rise in that regard. “Our comeback wins against McDowell and Naperville were two of the best games I’ve ever been apart of,” said Junior safety Caden Kolesar. Going undefeated for the first nine games of the season was another great accomplishment by the Eagles this season, as that feat had not been done since 2012. However, that record was not the end goal of the Eagles. Kolesar said, “The loss to Ignatius definitely hurt and was a low point of the season and no one really expected to lose in the second round of the playoffs. Our expectations were so high and we didn’t want to settle for anything less than the State Championship, so it didn’t feel real when we lost.”
The Eagles didn’t achieve the ultimate goal this year, but they managed to succeed in other regards. Junior running back Jordan Castleberry noted, “The football season was great, even though we fell short at the end it didn’t take away the great things we accomplished as a program. Brotherhood was shown throughout aspects, on and off the field. The greatest improvement we achieved was working as one unit.” The talent in the senior class that we had this past year was fantastic, with Michigan State commit Mike Dowell, Cincinnati commit Darnell Shields, and many other Division II and Division III college football commits. The Class of 2017 football players deserve a huge thanks from the whole St. Edward Community for representing St. Edward High School well with four great years of high school football.
Looking into next season, the Eagles will have some high aspirations. With a very talented junior class and some great athletes from the Class of 2020, the Eagles should expect another successful season. As many juniors started or got much playing time this past season, the Eagles will have a very experienced core of players that will be great leaders next season. The football fields may remain dormant until the summer camps begin, but the St. Edward Eagles will continue to work hard and improve in the offseason, so that they can really achieve their dream of a 4th OHSAA Football State Championship. Go Eagles!
