It is said that history repeats itself, and last Friday’s postseason football game against Oak Park River Forest (OPRF) felt eerily familiar.

Last season, No. three-seeded Edwardsville fell to No. 30 Waubonsie Valley in overtime at home during the first game of the IHSA Class 8A postseason.

It was the Tigers’ first round one postseason loss since 2011.

On Friday, Oct. 28, the Tigers faced a similar match-up, one year later.

No. 21-seeded OPRF, located just 30 miles from Waubonsie Valley, traveled four hours to the Edwardsville Sports Complex for the first round of the post season against the No. 12 Tigers.

But the Tigers did not make the same mistakes twice.

The OPRF Huskies were first to the end zone Friday night; but before the first quarter ended, sophomore running back Dionte Rodgers broke away for a 55-yard touchdown and senior Riley Patterson kicked for the extra point, putting Edwardsville up 7-6.

Rodgers’ offensive play reminded seasoned EHS supporters of 2016 graduate Jackson Morrissey’s 83- yard touchdown in the first quarter of the Waubonsie Valley game, which tied the score at 7-7.

But unlike in 2015, this year the Tigers secured the lead going into the locker room.

During the second quarter, Patterson kicked two field goals, one over 50 yards, and Rodgers ran a 72-yard touchdown to bring the Tigers up to 20 points at the half.

Meanwhile, the Huskies’ 13-yard touchdown three minutes into the second quarter brought their score to 12.

“We went into the second half feeling like the score was 0-0,” Rodgers said. “We knew whoever wins this half would win the game.”

As the third quarter lapsed without a change in score, Edwardsville was on track for a victory.

But during the fourth quarter, déjà vu set in.

Last year, the Tigers tied Waubonsie Valley at 14 points with just over seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Neither team scored again during regulation time.

Friday night, with just under eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Huskies blocked a punt by Patterson and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown to tie the score at 20.

“I felt like I let my team and the whole town down,” Patterson said. “Once it happened, I didn’t know what to do besides to pray for another chance.”

As the clock ticked through the fourth quarter, the nightmare of every veteran Tiger fan and player slowly became a reality.

Yet another postseason game would be decided in overtime.

The 2015 season was cut short when Patterson’s overtime field goal was trumped by Waubonsie Valley’s overtime touchdown, ending the game with a score of 20-17.

But this year, Patterson’s points would not be mute.

OPRF had the first possession of overtime, but the offensive line was unable to find the end zone. The first down resulted in a five-yard run and the following three ended with incomplete passes.

Since the Huskies failed to score, Patterson knew his coaches would have him attempt a kick on the Tigers’ first possession.

And he was ready to redeem himself.

Patterson booted a 26-yard field goal through the uprights on the first down to end the game with a score of 23-20.

“The experience alone from last year’s game gave the guys more confidence on Friday,” coach Kelsey Pickering said. ‘They weren’t afraid of the overtime; they understood it. They were able to execute when they needed to.”

Friday’s win takes Edwardsville into round two of the playoffs, one of the few differences so far between this year and last year’s postseason runs.

The Tigers will travel to Oswego on Saturday, Nov. 5 for a 6 p.m. game at Ken Pickerill Stadium against No. five-seeded Oswego High School.

“Oswego is an undefeated team and they earned that record for a reason,” Rodgers said. “We just have to come out and play our game and hopefully pull out another win.”