A first down after a measurement sealed a 24-22 win for Edwardsburg over Plainwell in Wolverine Conference football action on Friday.

Dante Razzano’s 6-yard pass to Shaun Elliott on a 4th-and-6 play at the Trojans’ 27-yard line with 1:33 left in the game sealed the win for the 3-1 Eddies.

The Trojans, who came unbeaten at 3-0, had no timeouts left to stop the clock.

“(Plainwell) had been stuffing our inside trap,” Edwardsburg coach Kevin Bartz said about the decision to pass. “We talked about going back to Isaiah (Miller) off tackle because he runs the ball so hard and can break it on any play. We felt they were going to look for Miller on that off tackle. We then thought we could get the deep ball. (Dante) Razzano made a great decision on hitting the underneath one. It was just enough (yardage) to get what we needed.”

Edwardsburg was able to run out the final 7:39 of the game. The Eddies moved the ball from their own 35-yard line to the Trojans’ 21-yard line over 14 plays. Edwardsburg converted two third downs and two fourth downs during that drive.

“It’s a resilient group of kids,” Bartz said. “We’ve got nine starters out (because of injuries) right now. We had to piece together kids that hadn’t played in positions before. That was a big win against a quality program.”

Before Edwardsburg’s clutch drive at the finish, Plainwell pulled within 24-22 after getting a a four-yard touchdown run from Jacob Geter. Geter, who came into the game with 615 yards rushing on the season, rushed for 123 yards on 23 carries with two touchdowns.

Turnovers were a factor in the game. The Trojans turned the ball over twice, while Eddies had no turnovers. Elliott’s interception on the first play of the game set up Edwardsburg’s first touchdown. The Eddies went 50 yards on 12 plays with Dustin Vires scoring on a two-yard run with 5:16 left in the first quarter. Isaiah Miller’s two-point conversion run upped the hosts lead to 8-0.

With Edwardsburg leading, 16-15, Plainwell lost a fumble at the Eddies’ 25-yard line with 1:10 left in the first quarter.

“That’s huge anytime you’re playing against a team like Plainwell,” Bartz said about having a plus-2 in turnovers. “We knew had to be mistake free to win a ball game like this.”

Razzano went 3-for-3 passing for 76 yards in the first half. Razzano’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Ben Robertson and Miller’s two-point conversion run gave Edwardsburg a 16-15 lead with 2:30 left in the second quarter.

Vires rushed for 90 yards on 19 carries, while Miller rushed for 50 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown.

 

Plainwell                    7          8          0          7 — 22

Edwardsburg            8          8          0          8 — 24

E – Dustin Vires 2 run (Isaiah Miller run)

P – Kevin Andrysiak 2 run (Joseph Fazio kick)

P – Jacob Geter 6 run (Geter run)

E – Miller 3 run (Dante Razzano pass to Ben Robertson)

P – Geter 4 run (Fazio kick)