Fall scored the first of three second-half touchdowns as Edgewood defeated host Fenwick 28-14 on Military Night.
“It’s awesome. It feels great after going 0-3 to start the year against some really good teams,” Fall said. “The first half was a little sloppy, but in the second half we turned it up, and we came together as a team.”
The Cougars (1-3) have won 13 of their last 15 games against the Falcons (2-2), who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Edgewood did it without starting quarterback Carter Breedlove for most of the second half.
“That was the first game this year where I thought we set the tone offensively at the line of scrimmage,” Cougars coach Trace Reynolds said. “Carter goes down — we don’t think it’s too serious — and (Ryan) Weber steps in. Then you lean on guys like the Miller Falls and the Brody O’Banions. I told them, ‘Hey, man, I need you to win a game for us.’ And they did. They played their tails off.”
McCaffrey Halcomb threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Sean Heberling to give Fenwick a 7-0 lead with 8:38 left in the second quarter.
Then Breedlove answered with an 11-yard touchdown run that tied it up at 7-7 with 3:50 left before halftime.
Reynolds urged discipline after missed opportunities and a blocked punt yielded no points heading into the locker room.
“Don’t let Edgewood beat Edgewood,” Reynolds told his players. “If you don’t beat yourself, you can win this game.”
The Cougars responded — executing cleanly and controlling possessions in the final quarter.
A pivotal moment came when Fall tight-roped the left sideline, springing free on a 59-yard touchdown run that put Edgewood up 13-7 at the 11:45 mark of the fourth quarter.
“I saw my guy on the outside blocking hard for me, and I knew I had to take it,” Fall said. “It was just great to finally see open field.”
The run punctuated a physical Edgewood ground game that wore down Fenwick’s defense. O’Banion added touchdown runs from 58 and 40 yards out to up Edgewood’s lead to 28-7.
But Fenwick didn’t quit. Holcomb hit Micah O’Connor with a 44-yard TD with under two minutes remaining to close out the scoring.
“Holding any team like that and controlling the clock — our defense played their tails off too,” Reynolds said. “This was a total team win.”
Fenwick coach Fred Cranford said his Falcons let an opportunity slip away after three quarters of disciplined football.
“We were talking about playing 48 minutes because we’ve come out flat for a half,” Cranford said. “But going into the fourth quarter, your ears should be pinned back. And they just outplayed us in that 12-minute period. You’ve got to make big plays in those times, and they did.”
Cranford credited Edgewood’s physicality and lamented his team’s missed tackles on Edgewood’s long touchdown runs.
“We’ve got to tackle,” Cranford said. “We’ve got to fundamentally play better. We just played with a lot more energy and poise in our previous games. Tonight, tied at 7, I’m not sure if I felt that poise and confidence.”
For Reynolds, Thursday’s win validated his message of resilience after opening the season with three losses to tough opponents — Oak Hills, Springboro and Badin.
“I think there’s a lot of football left for this team,” Reynolds said. “Stay positive with them and say, ‘Listen, 0-3 doesn’t mean anything. It’s done.’
“This week they went 1-0, and we’re going to have the same mentality next week and the week after that. Those kids are resilient, and they deserve this tonight.”
Cranford said Fenwick must now regroup ahead of Mount Healthy.
“This is the time of the season where you have to start taking things from film and button them up,” Cranford said. “We’ve got dudes that will respond. They’ll show up tomorrow morning and work 30 minutes harder than most teams in Cincinnati. But you’ve got to bring that juice and effort when it matters.”
Edgewood hosts Chaminade Julienne next week on youth night — a game Reynolds expects will carry an exciting atmosphere.
“It’ll be awesome to see all the pee-wee guys out there,” Reynolds said. “We just have to keep this mentality — 1-0 each week. That’s our mission.”
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