Bulldogs Doing Just Enough To Win, Want To Do It Once More

The Edgewood Bulldogs have a luxury few teams get. An open date in the last week of the season with a District Tri-Championship in the bag, and the Bi-District opponent busy with a game.

Edgewood head coach Ryan Simmons wasn’t looking on the bright side, though.

"I wish we were playing right now," he said. "I guess it (the open week) will give us a chance to get a little healthier, and we have the advantage of knowing we’re in and not waiting on the results of other games, but other than that, I’d rather be playing right now."

Next Thursday will have to be soon enough for the Bulldogs to see the Winnsboro Red Raiders, Edgewood’s Division Bi-District opponent.

Winnsboro finished 6-1 in District 13-2A after a 20-6 win over Quitman Friday night. The Red Raiders, a perennial playoff team that lost to eventual state champion Farmersville in last season’s playoff, will be considered a favorite over Edgewood.

"Nobody is giving us much of a chance," Simmons acknowledged. "But they haven’t all year. We just keep doing enough to win. It’s been a crazy year."

The crazy year started out about as badly as it could, with a 63-40 loss to Harmony. The Bulldogs put the season right back on track the next week though, beating a heavily favored Canton team, 48-40.

"That first Friday night was pretty miserable," Simmons recalled. "We gave away 28 points that never should have been scored, but it really came down to a few big mistakes.

"I didn’t expect us to beat Canton. I just wanted to play with them, to make a statement that said we’re not scared of you. I really feel like that turned our season around."

The Bulldogs have lost only one other game the rest of the way; meeting the goals they set at the start of the season. Goal number one was to get into the playoffs; number two was a district championship. The loss came to Kerens in the fifth game of the season, but a Mildred win over Kerens put Edgewood in a tie at the top.

"We knew Kerens was good," Simmons said of the district race. "They’re talented and they do things that hurt us, so we thought the district championship was gone. To have Mildred come back and beat Kerens and put us back in a tie was great.

"This is the first district championship for Edgewood in football since 1994. Our kids weren’t even in school yet."

Edgewood, as expected, has relied on an offense that looks like it jumped off the screen of a video game. The team has averaged 39 points a game for the season, and more than 500 yards per game. The difference in the season, though, according to Simmons, has been on the other side of the ball.

"Since we played Mineola, our defense has played outstanding," the coach said. "Our front seven has played extremely well. Against Kerens, their back had been gaining 250-300 yards every night, but he held him to 148."

Since that game, Edgewood has held opponents to less than 250 yards of offense,

"That was one of the keys from early in the season," Simmons continued. We knew we needed to get better on defense, and we’ve done that. And we’re still young. We’ll return eight players on defense next year.

"The offensive line has done a great job this year. I’ve always thought these kids had the ability, and they’re starting to reach that ability, and they’re having fun. It’s still a work in progress, but they’re getting there."

The game against Winnsboro will be a contrast in styles, with the two teams matching strength for weakness. Winnsboro is a power-running option team, much like Edgewood saw against Eustace, but also a team that gives up a lot of passing yards.

"They run the ball really well," Simmons admitted. Sometimes we stop the run, sometimes we don’t. They are very difficult to run on, but we may be able to pass it. They will try to exploit ours, and we’ll try to exploit theirs."

"I really didn’t know how this was going to turn out," Simmons said of the season. "But now that we’re here, I want to win. We’ve got two kids on this team that have played in a playoff game. Winnsboro is much more experienced.

"Just to have these kids realize their potential - for them and the coaches realize the fruit of our labor - it’s a joy to see."