ST. CLAIR TWP. — Wyatt Walker isn’t too worried about the Edgewood High School football team’s shift into the Southwestern Buckeye League.
The senior linebacker knows tradition runs deep for the Cougars, and that’s the exact mindset they’ll use heading into the 2023 season.
“It’s the same old Edgewood football for sure,” said Walker, who wrapped up a team second-best 108 tackles as a junior. “We know that we have a target on our back. We’re ready to go and compete for our first SWBL title.”
Opponents will square off against the Cougars who left the Southwest Ohio Conference after winning the league five out of the last seven seasons, including the last two. And while excitement of competing in a new conference is in the air, 12th-year Edgewood coach Scott Clemmons said he’s mostly looking forward to adding big-time, old-school rivalry games back into the mix.
“There’s a lot of history with a lot of those programs,” Clemmons said. “The expectations are going to be tough.”
The Cougars, who went 11-2 using its mainstay wing-T offense a season ago, join the SWBL Southwestern Division with Monroe, Ross, Franklin and Bellbrook.
“Ground and pound, tough-nosed football — that’s what these communities are built off of,” Clemmons said. “That’s the kind of football we play.”
“We’re going to do the same thing that we did last year — get to the playoffs and be successful,” senior running back Braden Sullivan said. “I want to go undefeated, hopefully.
“There are a few games that I’m personally excited for. I want to beat Milford. Two years in a row — can’t make it three,” Sullivan added of Edgewood’s recent two-straight season-opening losses to the Eagles. “Badin, they’ve been good for the past two years. We’ve been good for the past two years. We’ll see how that all collides.”
Edgewood hosts Milford on Aug. 18 to kick off the season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
The Cougars bring back their entire offensive line. Sullivan will reap the benefits of that.
He had 1,608 all-purpose yards — 877 rushing, 463 receiving and 268 returning — and scored 17 total touchdowns as a junior.
Senior offensive linemen Luke Halsey, Brady Wagers, Kohen Moore and Declan Hitte, and junior Braden Gunckle are the returnees in the trenches.
“That’s always huge when you can have that senior group up there with one junior,” Clemmons said. “It starts up front, and having those seniors back up there leading the way is very exciting.”
Senior outside linebacker Brayden Smith is a third-year starter who wrapped up 68 tackles in 2022. Joining him on the defensive side of the ball are returnees in senior Brycen Robertson (DL), senior Clay Halsey (OLB), senior Brayden Fitzwater (LB), senior Talan Schmidt (DL), senior Charles Flege (DB) and junior Xander Douglass (DB).
Senior David Rumpler oversees the kicking duties for a third straight season. He’s connected on 99 of 109 extra points in his career as a Cougar.
“David takes a lot of pride in the job he has to do, and his teammates believe in him. They trust him,” Clemmons said. “He’s physical, too. He’s kind of a bullet guy. You can send him down the field, and he likes to hit and try to make a tackle.”
Other players to keep an eye on include senior Austin McAbee (DL), senior Alex O’Campo (WR), junior Caden Sparks (TE/LB), junior Isaac Rosenfelder (SE/DB), junior Elliot Besingi (DL) and junior Carter Smith (DL).
QUOTABLE
“We talk about it every year — we’ve built a great tradition here. That’s something we don’t hide from,” Clemmons said. “One thing that we have to understand is that there are no gimmes. Every team, every week they see Edgewood on the schedule — we want them to think they’re playing a team with a rich tradition and a rich history and that it’s a mark to beat Edgewood.”
“Everybody is hungry. It’s a new season,” Clemmons said. “What happened for teams that made great runs or whatever they did, that was last year and this is a new year and an opportunity. It’s an opportunity for our seniors and last year’s juniors to leave their mark on what the program is going to say about them the next 20 or 30 years.”
IN THE KNOW
The Cougars’ explosive offense scored 33.3 points a game last season. … Clemmons is 69-48 the last 11 seasons as Edgewood’s head coach. … Edgewood won two Division II playoff games in each of the last two seasons.
