EIGHT-MAN FOOTBALL: EDISON CLOSES REGULAR SEASON WITH WIN, FINISHES YEAR 7-1 (24 PHOTOS) (2025-11-01)
BY BRIAN FEESSouthern Tier Sports ReportELMIRA HEIGHTS — The Edison football team jumped out to a 24-0 lead on their way to a 24-14 win over Moravia to cap the regular season on Saturday afternoon.
The Spartans wrap up one of the best seasons in program history, going 7-1 on the year. Edison is the second-seed for the eighth-man sectionals and they will face Moravia again next weekend at Dryden.
“It’s a big win, especially for our seniors,” senior Greg Golden said. “Last game ever doing it on this turf and I’m glad to do it with this team.”
The team has come a lot over the four years the seniors have been in high school. From 6-12 over Golden’s first two years in high school, the team has now gone 12-5 the past two years, including 7-1 this year.
“My freshman year on varsity, I didn’t see it (becoming a 7-1 team),” Golden said. “There was terrible attitudes, people didn’t really care about winning. But, over the years, the attitude got switched and people got more mentally in it and they were like, I want to win, winning is fun.”
Marcquis Bradley Jr. knew how much of a role the coaches played in the tea’s success.
“It’s really the coaching staff,” he said. “They got us fired up. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, they are getting us fired up. Even if we were 1-7 or 7-1 we’d have the same love, we are brothers, we love each other.”
Bradley Jr. got the scoring started at 3:00 of the opening quarter as he ran for a 37-yard score. The two-point try failed and it was 6-0.
Golden had the next score on a 53-yard run at 11:49 of the second quarter. The two-point try failed and it was 12-0.
Golden scored again on a four-yard run at 1:11 and the two-point try failed as the score became 18-0.
Paxton Hoover hauled in a 50-yard touchdown from Jace Schiller, tip-tooing down the sideline on his way to the end zone at 6:31 of the third quarter.
Jairen Francis had a 25-yard touchdown catch from Dillon Palmer for Moravia’s score with 17 seconds left in the quarter. The two-point pass Ade the game 24-8.
Noah Corbett caught a five-yard touchdown from Palmer at 8:45 of the fourth quarter to get within 24-14.
Edison then went and ran a seven plus minute drive to close out the win.
Schiller was 6-for-14 passing for 132 yards through the air. He ran for 61 yards on 20 carries.
Golden ran for 131 yards and two scores on 16 carries and Bradley Jr. had 57 yards and a score on six carries.
Hoover had four catches for 92 yards and a score and Niko Cheplick hauled in a 27-yard pass and Bradley Jr. had a 13-yard catch.
Golden had seven tackles and a tackle and a half for a loss. Bradley Jr. had six tackles and Ze’Quan Mosley had six tackles and 2.5 tackles for a loss.
Hoover had four tackles and two tackles for a loss and Cheplick had four tackles, plus one for a loss, while Schiller had three tackles and one for a loss. Cheplick had three passes defensed and Schiller had two.
Mark Cornacchio had an interception and had three passes defensed.
Overall the Spartans had eight tackles for a loss, and held Moravia to negative yards rushing in the game.
“The dogs are on the leash and sometimes we just let them off,” Golden said. “That’s what our D-line does and the secondary comes and just cleans it up.”
Palmer was 19-for-37 passing for 216 yards and two scores in the game. Jairen Francis had seven catches for 82 yards, Corbett had nine grabs for 62 yards and Ian Proper had two catches for 63 yards. Palmer also intercepted a pass on defense.
Getting the second seed in sectionals is special.
“It just hasn’t been done here in so long,” Golden said. “We have really never been seeded this high.”
Making sectionals last year helped set the tone for what is happening this year.
“It’s the greatest feeling ever,” Bradley Jr. said. “Those guys last year are the trailblazers, they lit the patch up and we are just following it.”
And, everyone on this year’s team is buying in.
“I feel like it’s more than just the eight guys on the field,” Bradley Jr. said. “The guys on the sidelines are talking, you know, pass, run, ball calls, it’s the little things. That’s what our coaches always stress, it’s the little things.”
While it’s special making sectionals, there are still bigger goals, like winning sectionals and trying to win states.
“Our mindset is run through everybody,” Golden said. “Last year I felt like people were just happy being there, we want to win it all. All these kids grinded all season in the weight room. The coaches grind, we are all hungry, we want it.”
This team wants to leave their mark and continue putting Edison football on the map.
“We want to leave it (our mark) really bad,” Golden said. “The community is coming together and they are like, ‘wow, these guys are solid.’ We need to do it for ourselves and everybody in the community. We aren’t just doing it for us, we are doing it for the community.”
The seniors know every game could be their last and that is extra motivation for the players.
“It’s big,” Golden said. “Especially with little injuries and stuff, seeing buddies go out. It’s a big thing, you have to treat every play like it could be your last.”
“Win or lose, we’ll probably cry,” Bradley Jr. said. “We are never going to forget this. We’ll never forget this season. We’ll make sure no one in the area ever forgets this.”
Facing Moravia again will be another tough test for the Spartans.
“We know they are going to be fired up, we know it’s going to be a war,” Bradley Jr. said. “They obviously weren’t a pushover today. It’s going to be a good fight, that’s what we want.”
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PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES
PHOTO GALLERY BY BRIAN FEES:
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