Friday’s game
What: Edgewood (0-2) at Badin (2-0)
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Virgil Schwarm Stadium, 1165 Eaton Ave., Hamilton
Radio: WMOH-AM (1450)
Last meeting: Edgewood won 22-21 in 2012
A little positive momentum would be a good thing for Edgewood High School’s football team. Just like last year.
The Cougars rallied from a 21-0 deficit to top Badin 22-21 in 2012, using that game as a springboard to an 8-3 campaign. This season, Edgewood is off to an 0-2 start as it heads to Hamilton on Friday night to meet the 2-0 Rams.
“Badin’s always one of those teams that if you can get them, you can kind of figure out where you’re going in your season,” EHS coach Scott Clemmons said. “After we won last year, we thought, ‘Hey, we’ve got a good football team.’ We had more depth last year and wore them down.”
Now the youthful Cougars are fighting through some growing pains, though they did show plenty of life last week in a 49-42, triple-overtime defeat at Milford. Edgewood was not competitive in its season-opening 35-6 loss to Fenwick.
“We kind of know what kind of team we are now,” Clemmons said. “Now are we going to come out and play like we did against Milford or are we going to go out and play like we did against Fenwick? I don’t know.”
Badin coach Bill Tenore said his squad is still kicking itself over last year’s loss to the Cougars.
“We had at least three chances in the red zone where penalties marched us back,” Tenore said. “We really beat ourselves that game. Our kids have had that in the back of their minds all year, and now it’s definitely in the front of their minds. They want to make up for last year.”
It’s a matchup of teams with similar offensive philosophies, specifically the pistol Wing-T. Edgewood junior Trace Reynolds threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns last week, while Rams sophomore Zach Larkin is 11 of 27 for 213 yards and three TDs through two games.
Badin’s defensive front has been dominating opponents, though Tenore said the Cougars have the biggest offensive line the Rams have seen thus far.
Tenore said senior linebacker Korey Hawk, who didn’t play last week against Taft because of a shoulder injury, is questionable for Friday’s contest.
“If we can be successful against Edgewood, it’s really going to propel us into next week,” said Tenore, whose team meets Fenwick in a Greater Catholic League opener next weekend.
Clemmons said he’s hopeful that senior defensive back Ryan Hurst will be able to play against Badin after missing the Milford game with an ankle injury.
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