Electrons dink & dunk Dobbins

MIKE EDWARDS is pretty much like every quarterback.

He feels the best play in any offense's arsenal is one that features, oh, a 40-yard dash downfield by a wideout, who then cradles a perfectly thrown ball for a touchdown.

Well, folks, sometimes those plays don't quite work out. And other times, they're barely ordered by the offensive coordinator.

That doesn't mean a team can't win without them. Also doesn't mean Mike Edwards can't enjoy himself.

The 6-foot, 155-pound Edwards, a senior, attends Elverson Military Academy, right at the edge of Temple's campus. Those kids play their football for Ben Franklin and on Thursday, Edwards steered the Electrons past Murrell Dobbins Tech, 20-8, at 29th Street Stadium.

Dobbins still leads the series, 7-5, on Thanksgiving, and 17-13-1 overall. The Mustangs had won the regular-season meeting.

Edwards accounted for 106 yards of offense, rushing 11 times for 33 and collecting 73 more while completing nine of 16 tosses.

Most of the pass plays were shorties. On purpose.

"We felt confident coming into this one," Edwards said. "While watching the tape of the first game, our offensive coaches noticed how far back Dobbins played their cornerbacks. We hit them with hitches and 5-and-outs.

"Our offense didn't really have the 5-and-out until this week. We worked on it a lot in practice and it was going nice. We did it maybe 10 times each practice and we completed most of them.

"In the game, we were having good success with the dinks and dunks. And some mediums. We had a couple opportunities for long passes, but they didn't really work out. That's OK. We got the touchdowns we needed."

Franklin faced an 8-6 deficit as the third quarter wound down. A miscommunication on a planned punt gave the Electrons the ball on Dobbins' 18. On play No. 7, Edwards hit Javier Buffalo for a 5-yard score and added a conversion toss to Emmanuel Young with 11:55 left in the game.

Again the defense posted a three-and-out. This punt was blocked by Patrick Kulp and Amir Crippen returned the ball for a 36-yard TD.

"It feels great to finish like this," Edwards said. "I know we made our alumni happy. Coach Carter [David, former Franklin star] had some alumni guys talk to us before the game and then at halftime we heard from that guy named Redz who's now at Lehigh."

That's Jamel Haggins, a senior tight end.

"He was saying how much the game should mean to us," Edwards said. "How down the line you wish you could still be playing high school football. Some guys were saying how much it still bothers them that they didn't get to play in this game [due to injury, etc.] or that they were part of teams that lost a few in a row to Dobbins. They were counting on us."

Tyreik Coaxum (21-78) scored Franklin's first TD on a 9-yard run. Dobbins' tally went to Darnell Butts on a 25-yard pass from Diamir Copes.

Edwards, who is in his eighth season of QBing, lives on 62nd near Jefferson, in Overbrook, and wants to major in sports medicine. Other Elverson starters vs. Dobbins included two-way lineman Nagee Brown and strong safety Blair Boone.

"I like leading my team," Edwards said. "Being the guy who controls the offense. I like when I can tell my coaches something that I see that maybe they can't see."

Thursday, Mike Edwards saw closer-than-ever receivers and a chance for a career-ending win. And claimed it.