For nearly 24 minutes of play Friday night, Edwardsburg was almost flawless.

The result was a 21-0 lead for the Eddies football team en route to a 41-13 win over visiting Otsego in the Division 4 district opener.

Edwardsburg’s victory gave the team its first nine-win season in school history. It was also the first time the Eddies had hosted a post season contest.

“I couldn’t have drawn up the start any better,” Edwardsburg coach Kevin Bartz said. “We’ve talked all year about moving the chains and scoring on offense and about stopping the opposition on defense. At the start we were near-perfect on both sides of the ball.”

Edwardsburg (9-1) will travel to Paw Paw (9-1) on Friday night for a second clash against a Wolverine Conference team.

The Eddies, who played a much more physical style of football than the Bulldogs, scored on six of its 10 possessions.

Edwardsburg was so dominating in that opening half that it had outgained Otsego by more than 200 yards in the opening 21 minutes of the contest.

In the end, the Eddies had 477 yard in total offense, all of which came on the ground, to 282 yards for the Bulldogs.

“I felt we were more physical than they were. And when we’re more physical, I’m disappointed if we don’t score every time we have the ball,” Bartz noted.

Lee Williamson had a good chunk of those yards as he finished the night with 155 yards on just nine carries and a touchdown. Austin Stinnett added 111 yards on 17 carries with a trio of touchdowns, while quarterback Ethan Zimmerman chipped in with 73 yards on half a dozen carries and a score.

Michael Kempton also got into the scoring column with a 29-yard touchown run as he finished the night with 89 stripes on nine carries.

“That’s a very good football team,” Otsego coach John Kubiak said. “And we didn’t play very well. They run that offense very well. And against it, when you have a few missed assignments here and there, you have a 41-13 ballgame. Tonight it all came down to execution. We didn’t execute and they did.”

Edwardsburg was able to contain quarterback Jared Klein, who ended up 10-of-26 for just 126 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 73 yards on eight carries.

“Especially early on, we got some great pressure on Klein,” Bartz said. “I thought our linebackers did a good job of flowing to the ball and Stinnett was outstanding.”

The defensive charge for Edwardsburg was led by its linebackers Dominic Razzano and Stinnett, who combined for 24 tackles. Jack Harrison added 10 tackles.

Adam Kendall and Williamson each had an interception.

Following the game, the Edwardsburg seniors were found in the center of the field doing “snow angels” on the painted logo.

Senior center and defensive end Stephen Coble said that they wanted to enjoy the moment.

“There are so many emotions going threw the heads of all the seniors,” Coble said following the game. “There is the exhilaration of winning, getting to go to the district finals and being the first team to do that. There is the sadness because we are leaving our home field so we are done here. There is just every emotion running through me.”

Otsego 0 7 0 6 — 13

Edwardsburg 7 14 7 13 — 41

E — Austin Stinnett 6 run (Jeff Roberson kick)

E — Ethan Zimmerman 20 run (Roberson kick)

E — Michael Kempton 29 run (Roberson kick)

O — Levi Leversee 16 pass from Jared Klein (Ethan Trobeck kick)

E — Stinnett 5 run (Roberson kick)

O — Aaron Clemens 5 pass from Ray Scarff (kick failed)

E — Stinnett 1 run (Roberson kick)

E — Lee Williamson 60 run (kick failed)