Eagles Fired Up For Re-Match Battle With Edgewood Bulldogs

It’s only the second week of the season, and district games are still a month away. The Canton Eagles are facing a 2A school this Friday, and ultimately the results won’t mean anything - will they?

"We’ll be fired up for this game," Eagles head coach Lance Angel said. "We’re expecting a battle.

"Anytime there’s two towns 10 miles apart, and the kids all know each other, there’s a little extra motivation."

Or a lot of motivation for the team that lost in the last minute of the game last season. The outcome that surprised the entire county last season left a bitter taste in the Eagles’ beaks that has lingered for 12 months. The game may not have derailed the season, but it didn’t help a Canton team that would miss the playoffs for the first time in three years. Edgewood, meanwhile, went on to defeat two other 14-3A teams – Mineola and Eustace – before winning a district title.

In the meeting last year, the Bulldogs held a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, and a 26-14 lead at the half. Edgewood then scored 22 in the fourth quarter to take a 48-40 win.

Coach Angel stopped short of saying he expects a different result this year, but believes he has a different team.

"Walking off the field after the first game (against Commerce) on Friday night, I felt good," he said. "I feel good about this team. It’s a different team than we had last year. We’re playing as a team. That was the best sign from the Commerce game. We’ve got areas to improve on, but this could turn out to be a fun team to watch."

The Bulldogs have a different team as well. The defense is much improved, and the offense is still trying to replace the star in last year’s win over Canton, Weston Jameson. Sophomore Ethan Rutter took the bulk of the snaps at quarterback for the Bulldogs in the season opener, but junior Clay Haltom is also available.

Early in the season, Edgewood will rely on defense while the offense works out the kinks.

"From watching the film, we feel like they’re better defensively," Angel said of the Bulldogs, which fell to Harmony in week one, 13-6.

"It looked like they had first game jitters, just like everybody," Angel said of the Edgewood offense. "But they didn’t play well against Harmony last year, either, and they played a great game against us."

Darrius Rogers played a great game last year, and he’s back at the receiver and cornerback spots. There are also a number of other returners from last year’s squad. Haltom is a big-play threat at receiver if he’s not playing quarterback. Levi Weaver and Joseph Read lead a strong linebacking corps, and Kiin Tuma leads a big defensive front.

"They’re big on both sides of the ball," Angel said of the Bulldog lines.

The Eagles might be able to match Edgewood’s improvement on defense. Canton held Commerce to 116 total yards in the 34-9 win on Friday, and kept the Eagles in the game until the offense caught up. Commerce tailback Jurace Brown was held to 89 yards on 14 carries, with 74 yards coming on one run.

"We played a great game defensively," Angel said. "We struggled scoring early, but the defense gave us some momentum. We gave up the one big run, but we expected that."

While Edgewood struggled in the first week on the offensive side of the ball, the Eagles are showing a year of maturity. The offense found some balance, gaining 255 yards on the ground, and 298 through the air. Six different Eagles carried the ball a total of 42 times. Chance Wallace threw the ball 31 times and Jonathan Huddle added three attempts for a total of 34.