After the clock struck zeros and the postgame handshake line reached its closing stretch, Edgewood soccer gathered collectively close to their visiting sideline. The Rams, with every win, have a ritual.
Keith Rawlings, in his third season teaching Edgewood, set free a jovial, “Sing it louder!” to his crew, which had simply crushed North Harford, 20-0, on the highway.
After each win — Friday night time being Edgewood’s sixth with no loss — the crew belts out in unison the refrain to John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” How did a rustic anthem about Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River turn out to be Edgewood soccer’s struggle track?
“We went to camp this summer up in the hills of West Virginia and introduced that song to them,” Rawlings mentioned. “I’ve coached a couple championship teams that after every game, they would sing it. So that’s kind of become our motto.”
Rawlings was defensive coordinator at St. Paul’s for back-to-back MIAA B Conference titles. He then coached seven seasons at John Carroll, highlighted by an undefeated 12-0 season and an MIAA B Conference championship in 2015.
In 2021, Rawlings took the job at his alma mater, now lauding the ability of bringing his highschool soccer crew collectively to remain on a lake in West Virginia for every week. It’s a software that has bonded his group via relationship constructing and group camaraderie.
There, they did chores and discovered tasks. They had enjoyable and performed soccer, too. But now six video games into the season, their post-win anthem has turn out to be the connector again to that journey.
“That was such a great experience,” mentioned senior linebacker and operating again Mekhi Georges. “I recognize our coaches for that, taking us down there to construct our crew bond. It’s turn out to be part of our crew singing it after each win.
Georges acquired to higher join along with his teammates and that have has spilled over into an undefeated season to this point. He additionally fell on a bees nest whereas swimming within the lake, taking a flurry of yellow jackets to the again.
He’ll always remember both reminiscence from the formative preseason journey.
“It’s something to hold us all together,” Georges mentioned. “The glue for the team and something we can always fall back on.”
It’s clear when that connectedness interprets onto the sector for Edgewood. On Friday night time it was most evident with the protection, holding North Harford (4-3) to 6 first downs — two got here within the first half and three got here on a single third-quarter possession.
With each crease that opened barely for senior operating backs Kent Holcombe or Harold Davis, Edgewood’s entrance seven acted swiftly sufficient to close the door.
The Rams gang tackled scramblers. They met ball carriers on the line of scrimmage, extra typically pushing them into the backfield. And the few occasions Hawks quarterback Preston Miller dropped again, he repeatedly discovered himself forcibly eliminating the ball.
Even after North Harford’s 65-yard return from Chase Thomas late within the second quarter — the largest Hawks pickup of the night time — they went three-and-out to arrange a area aim try. A false begin pushed them out of kicking territory, and Miller’s ensuing lengthy ball was intercepted by senior defensive again Michael Lee.
“We were committed to [stopping] the run,” Rawlings mentioned. “They got a great run game. [Davis] is a great runner. [Holcombe] is a hard runner. They’ve got a good run game. They’re good up front. … It was hard for us, they got a good team. … But if you can run the ball and stop the run, you’ll go far.”
Edgewood put factors on the board early, first on the bottom courtesy of Darius Flemming within the first quarter. That got here on the shoulders of a North Harford fumble that set the Rams up simply outdoors the crimson zone. Later within the waning minutes earlier than halftime, Rams quarterback Caesar Travers discovered Lee on a brief cross turned 30-yard rating.
Travers threw his second landing of the day within the fourth quarter, discovering Lee on a put up route with three minutes to go. The Rams failed on a 2-point conversion.
Their offense wasn’t significantly succinct all through. Rawlings famous significantly that their “pass game is nice but we got to get better at running the ball.”
Keeping North Harford’s run-heavy offense in test whereas placing up three scores — albeit the Rams’ lowest offensive output all season — proved sufficient. The dominant defensive displaying propelled them to earn a shared rendition of “Take Me Home, Country Road” once more.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com