Epenesa, Rodgers: Homecoming win was just what Tigers needed

EDWARDSVILLE – For Edwardsville's football team, Friday night's 30-7 homecoming win over Belleville West was just the tonic the Tigers needed.

EHS went into the game coming off a 20-10 loss to East St. Louis the week before, giving the Tigers their first Southwestern Conference loss in four years, but shook off the loss quickly and focused on the Maroons.

“We can't dwell on the past,” said Tiger defensive lineman A.J. Epenesa. “We played a really hard-fought game against East St. Louis; I felt we bounced back pretty well. We've got to keep staying focused and keep pushing and driving.

“It was a tough game today; we've always got to push our hardest and give it our all on every single play.”

What the Tigers did was execute their game plan well, Epenesa felt. “We just executed,” Epenesa said. “Defensively, we had stops. The first three our four series, we had three-and-outs; we stopped them pretty good until the second half when they started building some momentum. Our offense converted a little bit; I feel we did start well in the first half, but they picked it up in the second half.

“It (the second half) didn't go as well as we wanted, we'll just stay focused and keep working to get better.”

“Everyone just has to execute,” said running back Dionte Rodgers, who scored twice in the win. “That's what we did; we just got the job done.

“We made mistakes, that's why we have film (Saturday mornings) to look at that and try to overcome all that. We've got to get ready for next week. We're all going to make mistakes; mistakes are going to happen, we just have to keep executing off the mistakes.”

Edwardsville went to 6-1 on the season, 4-1 in the SWC with the win. The Tigers travel to Alton for a league game with the Redbirds at Alton's Public School Stadium at 7 p.m. Friday, then close out the regular season at home Oct. 21 against Granite City, who defeated the Redbirds 41-27 Friday night.

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