The Edwardsville Tiger football team survived a scare last Saturday at the District 7 Sports Complex against Lincoln-Way East. The Tigers pulled off a miraculous comeback with 2:04 left on the clock when junior Quarterback Dan Marinko led the tigers down the field for the game winning score.
“I was a little nervous,” Marinko said. “I knew the season was on the line, it felt good to do it as a team.” Marinko never had any doubt in his mind that the Tigers were going win. “We came back and did it against East St. Louis and this time we all had trust in one another.”
Marinko found the end zone with 58 seconds to play on a 22 yard run, then successfully converted the two-point conversion to put the Tigers up 21-14 on Lincoln-Way to eventually win by that score.
Looking forward to this week’s game, Edwardsville (12-0) welcomes in a very good Chicago Mt. Carmel (11-1) team loaded with talent.
Senior Cornerback Brian Crowe, who led the team in interceptions and was tied for first in the South Western Conference with five this year, doesn’t believe he will be a big factor in the secondary on Saturday.
“They have a powerful running game, they run the ball 86 percent of the time,” Crowe said. Leading the way for the Caravan running game is senior Running back Matt Domer. Domer listed at 5 feet 11 inches tall and 189 pounds is committed to play football at the University of Illinois next year after turning down offers from five other division-one schools.
Both teams played strong defensive games, but for the Tigers the game against Lincoln-Way East was the first game of the season they did not record a sack. Junior Defensive Tackle Jeff Clubb said, “We know they’re going to run a lot, we’re going to send more linebacker blitz’s this week and load the box to try and stop the run.”
The Caravan comes off a 7-0 victory over Downers Grove North in the 7A state quarterfinals led by a very solid front seven. Anchoring the Caravan defensive line are a pair of seniors with 6-feet-2-inch, 280-pound Enoch Smith and 5-feet-11-inch, 280-pound Steven Richardson.
Smith will be heading to East Lansing, Michigan next year as he is committed to Michigan State University and Richardson is committed to the University of Minnesota.
“These guys are really big, tough and physical.” EHS senior Tight End Hayden Schmidt said about Smith and Richardson, “Coach Martin said that they’re technique perfect.”
The Tigers relied heavily on senior Running back Elijah Crockett and Marinko in the run game early on in the match against Lincoln-Way with the high winds blowing, not helping the pass game much. Marinko hopes this week will be better conditions with throwing the football to his tremendous receiving core.
The EHS receiving core consisting of seniors Darius Crochwell, Craig James and Brian Crowe as well as juniors Isaiah Michl, Fontez Davis and Tommy Maxwell have been top notch targets for Marinko to throw to all year as he claimed the EHS single season records of passing yards and passing touchdowns.
Marinko has been dealing with a nagging high ankle sprain almost all season as he injured it in week three against East St. Louis. “It never really healed all the way,” said Marinko, “The coaches just want me to wear a walking boot this week so it can hopefully heal up a little bit.”
As for rankings go according to USA today EHS is ranked seventh in the state and the defending 8A state champions, Mt. Carmel are ranked number one. “It definitely adds fuel to the fire, Southern schools like us don’t always get the most respect they deserve” Marinko said.
The game between the Tigers and the Caravan will take place on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the District 7 Sports Complex. The winner of this game will advance to earn a spot in the IHSA Class 7A State Championship game on Nov. 30 in Dekalb, Illinois at Northern Illinois University.