The road to victory this year for the Edinburgh football team has been paved with rocks and obstacles.
And it looks to be a long, rough road to travel.
South Decatur used its running attack to grind out an easy 42-0 win over Edinburgh to not only keep the Lancers winless, but to spoil their homecoming.
It was the third straight win for the Cougars over the undermanned Lancers.
“We had some unfortunate things happen,” Edinburgh coach Tyler DeSpain said. “We must have kids here every day. We have 34 kids on the roster and eight out.”
Neither team has been an irresistible force nor immovable object. If anything, both have been nerds against the bullies on the gridiron, with Edinburgh (0-3) scoring only 14 points in two games while South Decatur (1-2) wasn’t far behind, surrendering an average of 47 points in its first two contests.
South Decatur running back Corbin Johnson had no such obstacles. The senior rushed for 284 yards and five touchdowns. Johnson’s scoring runs were from 4, 43, 75, 38 and 77 yards; add in a conversion run, and he accounted for 32 of the Cougars’ points.
“Johnson is a heck of a runner,” DeSpain said. “We knew what they were going to do and they got the better of us..”
Not counting a fumble recovery, Edinburgh didn’t cross Cougar territory on its own until the opening drive of the second half, but the mini drive stalled out at the South Decatur 18.
That was Edinburgh’s problem — driving with some good gains then stalling out like an old car with engine trouble.
“Fumble and interception,” DeSpain said. “We have to finish drives and the kids need to understand our offense.”
While South Decatur was running wild, the Lancers accounted for 19 total yards in the first half. They improved somewhat in the second with 52 yards for a grand total of 71. Fifty-nine of those came on the ground, with senior Milas Burkman accounting for 46 of those in the second half.
Next for Edinburgh is county rival Greenwood Christian in a Week 4 clash at Beech Grove Middle School.
“GCA is a good team and we hope to compete next week,” DeSpain said.
