Time to tame other Tigers

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Led by the Minooka defense, the Indians will be out hunting for a playoff victory on Friday night at home against Edwardsville. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. (Adam Nekola)

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The Minooka Indians rolled into the 2009 IHSA Class 7A football playoffs.

The Edwardsville Tigers got in by the skin of their teeth ... or rather, the feet of Max Andresen.

But — as coaches say — throw the records out the window.

Friday starts a new season.

Both Minooka and Edwardsville played well enough in the nine-game regular campaign to attain postseason elgibility.

Putting 111 points on the board in its last three conference games, the Indians claimed the Southwest Prairie title [both Oswego and Minooka finished with 6-1 ledgers with the Indians taking the head-to-head competition 34-14 in Week 8] to earn an automatic berth.

Edwardsville, 5-3 going into its final game, needed two overtimes and a Max Andresen touchdown run in the second session to nudge Belleville West 34-31. The Tigers finished fourth in the Southwest Conference with a 4-3 ledger.

Edwardsville, though, is no stranger to postseason play. The Tigers have advanced to the playoffs 16 times, winding up second in the state in both 2001 and 2002 campaigns in 7A.

Coach Mark Bliss and the Tigers opened the season by beating St. Louis Roosevelt 56-6 and Chicago Corliss 46-0 before losing 27-7 to Belleville East and 48-15 against Southwest Conference champ East St. Louis Sr.

Edwardsville then edged Collinsville 13-12, Granite City 34-6 and Alton 27-0. A 20-7 loss to O'Fallon preceded the dramatic win over Belleville West.

Junior halfback Rodney Coe leads the Tigers in rushing with 730 yards and 11 touchdowns in 85 carries for an 8.6 average. Four other Edwardsville backs have accumulated at least 330 yards, including junior tailback Reggie Box [58 carries for 503 yards and five touchdowns], junior windback Andresen [50 attempts for 365 yards and seven scores], junior quarterback Chase Westra [92 carries for 362 yards and five touchdowns] plus senior halfback Eric Vinyard [38 attempts for 330 yards and a solitary score].

Coe churned out 199 yards in 26 carries while scoring three times against Belleville West. That was his return to action after he missed a trio of weeks because of a broken hand.

"The tapes they sent us make it pretty tough to see what's going on," noted Minooka coach Bert Kooi. "And with the quality of the tape, we really don't have a comfortable feeling as we normally would at this point. But one player we definitely are aware of is the running back Coe, who a lot of people consider a D-1 type of athlete. From what we have been able to see, Coe is certainly a good player."

Kooi would also feel a little more comfortable if Edwardsville was a more traditional club.

"They do a lot of mis-direction [plays], they kind of us a shell game," said Kooi. "They run a lot of unbalanced fronts. They try to confuse you. They are certainly not a traditional team. They use what I call a single wing unbalanced offense and in my 30 years of coaching, I don't ever remember facing a team like that. But the kids have been working hard and are starting to feel more and more comfortable."

While the Tigers are a relatively unknown, Kooi relishes the fact that the Indians will have a couple of very positive vibrations going for them.

"First of all, we don't have to travel [all the way to Edwardsville] and with the game being here, we should have a great crowd," Kooi pointed out. "Plus, I think Edwardsville has played every game on turf. They will be shocked having to come here and play in our mud pit. They are calling for more rain on Thursday and the rest of the week. And it certainly won't be warm enough to dry out by Friday night. I think the condition of the field should work to our advantage."

The Indians have accumulated 2,431 yards rushing this year with junior halfback Kyle Banks topping the team with 716 while junior quarterback Mitch Brozovich adds 610 yards. Brozovich has completed 29-of-64 passes for 453 yards and four touchdowns.

A key or two to the outcome of the first Minooka playoff contest since the 2002 season?

"Our motto is to "Do what we can do," said Kooi. "We want to control the ball and take time off the clock. We want to control the ball and end up our drives with scores. I think our defense is pretty solid. We will just continue to do the things we have done all year. We need to hold onto the ball and not give up any big plays."

Edwardsville defensive coach Kelsey Pickering said, "Our season has gone well. The kids have worked hard and that win last Friday was very big. We have had a good year and by no means, do we want it to end. We know Minooka is a good team. They are big, physical and well coached."

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