Dom Iarocci won’t even begin to call this week’s matchup at Brookfield just another game.
In fact, the third-year coach of the Edgewood Warriors (4-2),, who have won a 2012 Ashtabula County-best three consecutive games, isn’t trying to downplay the contest with undefeated, state-ranked Brookfield (6-0) — the top-rated team in the Division IV, Region 13 computer ratings.
“This is not only the biggest game of the season for us, it’s probably the biggest game Edgewood has had in over 20 years!” Iarocci said. “To be where we are, at 4-2, and to play the No. 1 team in the region, it doesn’t get any bigger than this.”
We could list what the Warriors — the Brookfield version — have accomplished in their first six games, but let’s turn the floor over to Iarocci.
“They’re No. 1 in Region 13, Division IV, the same region as us,” he said. “Yes, they are undefeated. They have outscored they’re opponents, 285-72.
“They are averaging 47 points a game and giving up 12. They beat Campbell Memorial, 58-20. They beat Struthers, who was undefeated at the time, 26-13, and they beat a 4-0 Warren JFK team, 35-0. So, yes, they are all that they are cracked up to be.”
That having been said, Iarocci admits its a sense of excitement, rather than intimidation, that is permeating through the Edgewood campus.
“Here we are in Week 7, with an opportunity to play the No. 1 team in our region, in our division,” he said. “With our 4-2 record, the (potential) computer points are huge.
“It is like a playoff game for us.”
Edgewood and Pymatuning Valley are the only active programs in Ashtabula County to have never reached the playoffs, so for Iarocci to say that magnifies the impact of this game.
Edgewood, coming off a tough 23-12 win against the Cleveland Knights, a club team, Saturday night, enters this game rated 13th in Division IV, Region 13. The top eight teams in each of Ohio’s 24 regions qualify for the playoffs.
Last year’s 21-14 Brookfield win at Edgewood marked the first matchup between the schools.
Brookfield, under the direction of seventh-year head coach Randy Clark (39-28, .582), is led by senior quarterback Jeremy Quinlan (6-foot-3, 180 pounds) and senior running back Ryan Mosora (5-11, 185). Senior wide receiver Collin Harkulich (6-4, 180), senior lineman Gary Hiner (6-1, 295), junior running back Joe Clark (5-9, 180), senior receiver/linebacker Jimmy Quinlan (6-2, 185) and senior linebackers Derek Sulik (6-foot, 180) and Tyler Miller (6-foot, 215) play very well in supporting roles.
Jeremy Quinlan has carried the football 81 times for 561 yards. He has run for 9 touchdowns and thrown for 4 others. He did not play in the win at Edgewood last fall because of injury.
However, Mosora did, running for 238 yards on 32 carries with 2 touchdowns. Harkulich’s 40-yard touchdown grab accounted for Brookfield’s other score in that win.
This season, Mosora has rushed for 1,012 yards — more than any ballcarrier in the Star Beacon coverage area — on just 101 attempts, for an off-the-charts average of 10.0 yards per carry.
Harkulich has 12 catches for 213 yards and has grabbed 3 of Quinlan’s 4 touchdown tosses.
Brookfield averages 310 yards per game on the ground and 94 in the air in its spread attack. It runs a 4-4 defense.
The game against the Knights on Saturday night was good prep for Edgewood, Iarocci said.
“They were probably the most physical football team we’ve played all year,” he said. “They have some good athletes from the Glenville-Euclid area, but they are being home-schooled, so they are playing on this club team, and they were very physical.
“I’m happy to escape with a victory and everyone healthy because we took some enormous hits.”
Iarocci was pleased with the performance of his Warriors against Brookfield a year ago, when they forced three turnovers, which magnified Quinlan’s absence at the controls of the offense.
“I thought our kids played extremely well against a very physical team with a huge line, an outstanding quarterback and an outstanding running back,” he said. “The quarterback, Jeremy Quinlan, and Ryan Mosora are their two big weapons.
“They need to be stopped for us to have a chance.”
To that end, Iarocci, who said his team is healthy except for Alex Spangler (shoulder), who is out for the season, knows what needs to be done if Edgewood is to win what he terms its biggest game in two decades.
“We are going to an unfriendly environment,” he said. “Our keys are to stop Ryan Mosora and Jeremy Quinlan.
“(And) to do the things we’ve been doing all year on offense — run the football, control the ball and try to keep it away from them.”
Click here to subscribe to The Star Beacon print edition.
Click here to subscribe to The Star Beacon replica edition.
