Basile wins third straight, Edwards runs for 225 yards
Rodrick Anderson
OBERLIN — Running back Horace Edwards had a career night Friday and the Basile Bearcats defense shut down Oberlin in the second half to win 42-25.
It was the Bearcats’ (3-2, 2-1 District 4-1A) third consecutive win and first over Oberlin (5-2, 4-1) since 2018.
“It is the kids,” Basile head coach Kevin Bertrand said. “They believe in what we are doing. The kids just worked so hard at it. It was a team effort. It was all three phases of the game. It just came together.
“I knew it was going to be a tough place to play. (Oberlin is) a wellcoached team.”
Edwards ran for 225 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.
“We do use four running backs, so whenever we get one with a hot hand we know we have to keep going with them,” Bertrand said. “He had a great game.”
Holding on to a 28-25 lead, Edwards picked up 56 yards on secondand-7 to put the Bearcats inside the Tigers’ 5-yard line. Ethan Bazinet capped off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown for a 35-25 lead with 1:04 left in the third quarter.
It was the Bearcats’ first two-possession lead of the game.
Edwards put the icing on the cake with a 31-yard touchdown on fourth down with 4:31 left.
After allowing nearly 200 yards in the first half, Basile held the Tigers under 80 in the second half.
Oberlin scored on its first possession of the third quarter on a 20-yard run by Malachi Semien but couldn’t get past the Bearcats’ 40-yard line the rest of the game and lost a fumble on a kickoff.
“We made a couple of adjustments at halftime as far as where we were going to have our fits and where we were going to put certain people,” Bertrand said. “At the same time, I think it just took us a little while to catch up to their speed.
“It is something that you can’t simulate in practice.”
It looked like Oberlin would take an 18-15 lead into halftime after Semien’s second touchdown of the half with 31 seconds left.
But on the Bearcats’ first play of the ensuing possession, Edwards went around the right end for a 46-yard gain. Two plays later, Basile went up 21-18 on a 2-yard pass from Cole Manuel to Justin Smith with 4 seconds left in the half.
“It was set up by a big run,” Bertrand said. “It really got us down there.
“We knew we needed to try to get a play in, but we were also going to try to leave a little time if we had to kick a field goal at the end. It is a play that we believe in and we run a lot. It is just a simple flood route, and our tight end made a great catch on it.”
Oberlin was it own worst enemy in the first half as two Tigers defensive penalties helped out the Bearcats.
On Basile’s second possession, Bazinet picked up 28 yards to the Tigers’ 30-yard line, but Oberlin was tagged for an illegal participation penalty, moving the Bearcats to the 15. Bazinet punched it in from 6 yards out, and Cole Manuel hit Ashton Deaville for the 2-point conversion and an 8-6 lead with 1:57 left in the half.
Basile converted twice on third down on its next drive, and the Tigers were called for a penalty after Aiden Reed stopped Edwards short on fourth down. The penalty put the Bearcats at the Tigers’ 9-yard line, and Bazinet finished the drive with a 1-yard plunge for a 15-12 lead.
Rodrick Anderson/American Press