It was a beautiful night for an Edwardsville football home game and the EHS Sports Complex was buzzing with fans hopeful for a victory.

The Tigers started off solid with a 7-yard touchdown by quarterback Kendall Abdur-Rahman. CBC quickly struck back with a 14 yard touchdown run to even up the score at 7-7.

“Going into the game we knew that CBC was no joke and that we had to bring our ‘A’ game,” starting nose guard Connor Hinterser said.

Abdur-Rahman was on his game early on rushing for another touchdown. A missed extra point by kicker Devin Parker left the score at 13-6.

CBC returned the favor with a long passing touchdown to go up 14-13.

“I was feeling good about (our team),” said Caleb Strohmeier, a senior Orange Rush leader. “I thought we had a lot of fight in us to start off.”

After a 40 yard field goal by Parker, the Tigers headed into the locker room with a 2-point lead.

“Anytime you have a lead you feel a little more comfortable,” Edwardsville defensive coordinator Kelsey Pickering said. “But we just stay focused and don’t look at the score board a lot.”

The lead for Edwardsville was short-lived. Early in the second half the Tigers struggled. Following a touchdown by CBC, Abdur-Rahman threw a costly pick that led to another touchdown, making it 28-16.

The hurt was not over. CBC followed with 12 more points and closed out the game with a 40-19 score.

“It doesn’t matter win or lose. Last week is behind us,” coach Pickering said. “A team that is 2-0 right now heading into to next week’s games isn’t working as hard as us.”

The Tigers now prepare for a tough game against rival East Saint Louis Friday.

“We have to learn from the little things that we did wrong and we have to perfect them for this week,” Abdur-Rahman said. “We just have to move on and not dwell on the past.”