Edwardsville enters first day of practice fit with normal lofty goals in SWC and state run

Aug 11, 2015 7:10 AM

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EDWARDSVILLE - Edwardsville High School Head Football Coach Matt Martin comes to the table each year with some simple, but lofty goals: to win the Southwestern Conference title and make a run at a state title.

On opening day of practice at Edwardsville High School, Martin’s players looked in shape and ready for the challenge.

“I am nervous every year on opening day,” he said. “The process started during the summer and continues now. I think it has changed a lot from 20-some odd years ago.

“What we see now is I don’t think the fall camps are as hard as the double and triple sessions in years past. These kids make a bigger summer commitment than in the past.”

Martin had a team last year that went 9-2 and moved into the playoffs. All-State quarterback Dan Marinko and several other starters are missing, but back is the highly touted 6-foot-5, 245-pound junior A.J. Epenesa at defensive end and tight end with a strong supporting cast.

A.J. Epenesa runs a pass pattern at the Monday practice. Epenesa is being recruited by nearly every Division I school in America to play football and is considered one of the nation’s top junior recruits. Edwardsville could be paid a visit at one of its games this season by any college coach or recruiter in the country.

“A.J. is a special talent with potential to get better,” Martin said. “We hope he is a tremendous run blocker and we have to get the ball in his hands by running or throwing. He has potential to make big plays on offense or defense.”

The constant question coming up over the summer about Edwardsville football is who will fill the big shoes of Marinko at quarterback.

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Two right now are battling it out for that position: 6-3, 210-pound senior Riley Jones and 6-4, 185-pound junior Brenden Dickmann. Both Jones and Dickmann are big and have strong arms, fitting in the explosive Edwardsville offense, that doesn’t rely just on the run.

Coach Martin views every player on his team as a key and said his returning starters should be great leaders.

“On defense, we have six or seven returning starters and offensively, not as much,” he said. “We have three starters maybe returning on offense. I hope we have kids who have been around and grown up in he process and understand the expectations and are looking forward to the responsibility of being a Tiger football player.”

Martin said the summer practices and conditioning workouts make such a difference in what a coach sees at this point in the season.

“You don’t have the two-to-three month layoffs and hit them with two-a-days or three-a-days,” Martin said. “This is the same time we have been practicing during the summer. You get 25 days during the summer and we use our 25 days. We usually go three days a week.”

Martin said as coaches, the big battle at this point in the season is “time.”

“You are constantly evaluating your weaknesses and trying to improve on them,” he said. “It is a constant process.”

Edwardsville opens its season at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28, at home against Quincy. Quincy posted a 5-5 record last season.