With another blowout win, Edison football heads to region final for first time since 2016
Recent history at Edison made the Red Raiders a clear outlier when they decided to opt into the Florida High School Athletic Association’s postseason earlier this fall. Last year, Edison fell to Calvary Christian Academy in the second round. The year before, the Red Raiders missed the playoffs altogether.
Their Miami-Dade County partners in the state series this year are mostly perennial contenders like Miami Central and Northwestern, but Luther Campbell didn’t hesitate as he thought through whether Edison should enter the state series and risk the season lasting just two or three regular-season games, plus the chance of a one-and-done trip to the playoffs. His Red Raiders continue to reward his confidence and now they’re headed to the Region 4-3A championship after a 41-0 rout of St. John Paul II Academy on Friday.
“This is special. That’s what the goal has been, to build this program,” Campbell said. “We expected to be in this position. We came in this year and said, Hey, look, we want to compete for state and it’s state or bust. There’s no doubt about it. We’re right where we want to be.”
For the first time since 2016 and just the third time this century, Edison (4-1) is headed to the region finals after another blowout win at Traz Powell Stadium. The Red Raiders will host Chaminade-Madonna next Friday in Miami with a chance to reach the state semifinals for the first time since 2003.
Campbell’s postseason gamble so far hasn’t yielded any suspense. A random draw gave Edison a bye through the play-in round earlier this month, so the Red Raiders opened the postseason last Friday with a 40-point rout of Benjamin. Even the regular season was mostly devoid of drama for Edison, which began the season with a 26-point win against Homestead last month and closed it out with a 40-point win against Norland. The Red Raiders’ only loss was by 14 to Central in a game shortened to two quarters because of lightning.
With a senior quarterback and a loaded supporting cast of underclassmen, Edison has strung together blowout after blowout with one of its most talented rosters since it won its only state championship in 1970.
Junior wide receiver Syveion Ellis is already orally committed to the Florida Gators. Sophomore athlete Nathaniel Joseph already has 10 touchdowns. Junior edge rushers Francois Nolton and Leon Hart, both nationally ranked in the 247Sports.com composite rankings, anchor a defense allowing fewer than 14 points per game and St. John Paul II (6-3) ran only one play in Red Raider territory in the entire first half.
The running-clock blowout in the Region 4-3A semifinals, however, was powered by the seniors. In the first quarter, quarterback Keith Moore found senior wide receiver Roscoe Gibson, who is committed to the FCS Tennessee State Tigers, for a 20-yard, then senior running back Darius Chester got loose for a 79-yard touchdown run to give Edison a 14-0 lead. In the second, senior running back Livingston Benoit punched in a 1-yard touchdown and Moore connected with wide receiver Alvin Wallace for a 40-yard score. Hart added a fumble recovery for a touchdown in the second, too, and Edison went into halftime ahead 35-0 — enough for a running clock for the entire second half.
“It’s very meaningful,” Hart said. “Coach Luke preached to us how it was last year, how we needed to come back and finish it this year.”
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 6:41 PM.
