Edwardsburg quarterback Dante Razzano shook off a second half mistake and made two key plays on fourth down as the Eddies beat Lakeshore, 34-21, in a Division 3 pre-district football game on Friday.

The sixth-ranked Eddies (10-0) travel to St. Joseph (9-1) in a district final next Friday at 7 p.m. The Bears beat Sturgis, 33-20, in pre-district action.

“I know it has been 41 years since we’ve beaten Lakeshore,” Edwardsburg football coach Kevin Bartz said. “Ted Peak, the last Edwardsburg coach to beat them, came to my classroom (Thursday) and said he was tired of being the last coach to beat Lakeshore. He told us to go get them tonight.”

The win didn’t come easy for Edwardsburg, which had outscored its opponents, 443-124, entering Friday’s game.

Razzano’s lost fumble early in the third quarter at Lakeshore’s 14-yard line helped the Lancers take their last lead of the game. Three plays after the fumble, Cory Hampton scored on an 86-yard run to give Lakeshore a 21-20 lead with 7:23 left in the third quarter.

Edwardsburg responded with a 13-play, 80-yard drive, capped by a two-yard touchdown run by Austin Cline with :16.9 left in the third. A two-point conversion pass from Razzano to Ben Robertson gave the Eddies a 28-21 lead.
The big play on that drive was Razzano’s 44-yard run on a 4th-and-4 at Edwardsburg’s 36-yard line.

Razzano came through again on fourth down during Edwardsburg’s next drive. Facing a 4th-and-4 at Lakeshore’s 36-yard line, Razzano got off a pass while in the grasp of a Lakeshore defense and Tyler Treat dove to make a great catch at the Lancers’ 26-yard line.

On the next play, Isaiah Miller ran 26 yards for a score to give the Eddies a 34-21 lead with 5:27 left in the game.
“Dante on the carry he fumbled on was fighting for the extra yard and probably didn’t need to there,” Bartz said. “But, he’s a competitor. He’s our leader and we want him handling the ball when the game is on the line. He did a phenomenal job.

“Treat wasn’t even in the pass pattern. We were trying to clear out and get (Isaiah) Miller down the middle. They actually tackled (Miller). Treat was actually carrying out a fake. He turned around and saw that Dante was in trouble and he made an athletic play. That was just athleticism on the field. It was phenomenal.”

In the fourth quarter, Lakeshore was inside Edwardsburg’s 10-yard twice, but was unable to score.

“We made some adjustments defensively based on the packages they brought in,” Bartz said. “I thought our defensive line did a good job of getting a nice push.”

The Eddies rushed for 509 yards with Miller leading the way with 121 yards on 16 carries. Damion Pompey added 118 yards on the ground on 22 carries with one touchdown, while Treat had 90 yards on five carries.

EDWARDSBURG 34, LAKESHORE 21

At Edwardsburg

Lakeshore                  7          7          7          0 – 21

Edwardsburg            6          14       8          6 – 34

E – Isaiah Miller 14 pass from Dante Razzano (run failed)

L – Shane Clapp 48 pass from Joel Brawley (Robert Dente kick)

E – Joey Hess 32 run (Miller run)

L – Cory Hampton 57 run (Dente kick)

E – Damion Pompey 4 run (pass failed)

L – Hampton 86 run (Dente kick)

E – Austin Cline 2 run (Razzano pass to Ben Robertson)

E – Miller 26 run (run failed)

Varsity records: Lakeshore 6-4, Edwardsburg 10-0