Saturday, November 18, 2000

By Lee Tomasello
SJSports Staff Writer

It was both a happy day and a sad day for the players of the Edgewood Senior High School football team. They had taken their team to the state playoffs for the first time in the team's forty-two year history but just couldn't win with big game. The Eagles ended its chance of advancing to the state finals when they were defeated by the Red Raiders of Ocean City by one point 35-34.

An Edgewood win looked out of sight at halftime as the Eagles trailed Ocean City by 21 points. Even though things looked bad for the Eagles, the team never gave up. They gave 100% to try to close the scoring gap.

When the team took the field following halftime, however, it looked like a new team. Not only did they play just as hard, but nearly every thing they did was successful. Following an Ocean City score making the score 28-0, Jack Thompson opened the Eagles scoring by returning an eighty yard kickoff return and Nick Rosetti added the extra point. Within seconds, Dennis Davis scored on a twelve yard pass from Rosetti and the kick failed. The Red Raiders then scored on a 40 yard run. The scoring was the result of an onside kick recovered by Andrew Rivera.

In the final period, the scoring was all Edgewood. Davis scored on a twelve yard pass from Rosetti and Andre Deramus added two more on a run. Then Aaron Johnson scored on a sixteen yard pass from Rosetti and Rosetti added the extra point.

Just over the midway of the final period, Dennis Davis brought the Eagles to within one point when he scored on a twenty-three yard pass from quarterback Nick Rosetti. The Eagles head coach Derryk Sellers, who watched his team move the ball on the ground for most of the second half, decided to go for two and the win. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the two point conversion failed just a few yards from the goal line.

Congratulations to the Edgewood Eagles for not only a great season but for the best football season in the school's history.

Edgewood plays Overbrook in their annual Turkey Bowl game on Thanksgiving Day at 10:30 AM. Ocean City advances to the finals on Saturday, December 2, when they play Delsea.