Glenwood sets up region showdown with Bessemer Academy

Glenwood rebounded from two straight non-region losses to overpower Edgewood Academy 49-6 Thursday night at Sammy Howard Field in an AISA Region 1-3A contest that ensures the Gators will have a spot in the state playoffs

It was Glenwood’s first win against the Wildcats in their last eight games as the Gators used multiple weapons, both running and passing, to race to their fifth win against two losses and making their region record 3-0. The Wildcats fell to 0-8 overall and 0-4 in the region as most of the second half was played with a running clock.

Now Glenwood will travel to Bessemer on Oct. 14th for a game that will decide first place in the region.

“It’s been a long time since this team has played for first place this late in the year,” said Glenwood coach Jason Gibson after the win.”We are going to need to be ready.”

Key play: After Edgewood took 16 plays and scored its only touchdown of the game to make it 14-6, fullback John Burnett for the Gators burst up the middle for a 50-yard TD that made it 21-6. Edgewood then went two quarters with no offensive first downs.

Difference maker: Glenwood- Kashe Boatner, 6 carries for 88 yards and 2 TD’s on offense, 1 tackles and 5 assists on defense. John Burnett 5 carries for 80 yards and 1 TD.

Individual stats: Glenwood-Lawrence Vinson 5 carries for 47 yards and 2 TD’s Brandon Moseley 1 carry for 4 yards, 5 completions on 8 attempts for 93 yards and 2 TD’s and 1 interception. Cameron O’Neill 2 catches for 38 yards. 1 TD. Tripp Day 1 catch for 15 yards and TD. Edgewood-Mitchell Boyd 13 carries for 56 yards.

Coach quote: “I give Edgewood a lot of heart for playing as hard as they did—they never quit out there,” said Gibson. “I also think our young guys, Scott Anderson, Trevor Cisco, Bryce Newman, and Jake Melton did an outstanding job and sophomore Lawrence Vinson scored the first time he touches the ball.”

“We wanted to run our plays and execute on both offense and defense,” he added.

Player Quote: “The play opened up-we had good blocking and I just turned up the field,” said Vinson.

This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 11:03 PM with the headline "Glenwood sets up region showdown with Bessemer Academy."