Johnson Runs For Three Touchdowns, Hampton Throws For Two As Edwardsville Defeats Alton In Conference Opener 42-14

Colin Feeney, Contributing Sports Writer

Sep 21, 2019 6:34 AM Sep 22, 2019 8:13 AM

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EDWARDSVILLE – Justin Johnson, Jr., ran for three touchdowns on the night, while quarterback Ryan Hampton threw twice to Noah Goldsmith for scores, as Edwardsville defeated Alton in a very entertaining Southwestern Conference football opener 42-14 Friday night at Tiger Stadium.

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The Tigers scored four unanswered touchdowns after the Redbirds tied the game 14-14 in the second quarter on a 54-yard pass from Andrew Jones to Xavier McNear shortly after Edwardsville had taken its first lead.

Tigers’ coach Matt Martin was very pleased with his team’s performance from top to bottom.

“I think we had one turnover; that was disappointing,” Martin said. “I just think we finished drives, and you put points on the board. They’re a good football team. I mean, I don’t see any reason why they can’t be a playoff team. They’re a good football team. And so, they did a good job, my hat’s off to them. We ended up the winners tonight.”

Johnson had another great game on the evening and showed why he’s one of the premier running backs in the St. Louis area.

“Yeah, you’re not going to arm-tackle Justin,” Martin said. “You’re going to have to put a shoulder pad into him. He does a good job.”

But the Tigers’ offense isn’t a one-dimensional one. There’s many a weapon on the offensive side of the ball, and all make a valuable contribution to the Edwardsville success.

“No, I thought Ryan ran the ball well,” Martin said, “with speed options, and some other plays we had. Goldsmith made a big touchdown catch. We just missed one earlier to Ethan Young, and Goldsmith made the play. Malachi (Revis) ran well, did some good things. If you’re going to be an effective offense, it can’t be just one guy.”

The Edwardsville defense played very well also, not allowing the big play after the Jones-to-McNear strike that tied the game in the opening term.

“You got to keep things in front of you, and tackle well,” Martin said. “I’m proud of our kids; we’re getting better. So, there it is.”

Redbird coach Eric Dickerson was also pleased with his team’s performance.

“It was a battle tonight, that’s for sure,” Dickerson said. “I thought we played well. We had a few mistakes out there that we need to fix up, but we came out and played hard, and I think we executed pretty well. And that’s a good team over there, so they played well tonight.”

And when Dickerson and the Alton coaches look at the film, they’ll see many positives from the game.

“Oh, I think that once we go back and look at the film, we’ll get a lot of good things out of it tonight, honestly,” Dickerson said. “I thought we threw the ball pretty well, ran the ball well, the defense, again, played very good tonight. But, you know, we’ve got to shore up some things, and not give up big plays.”

Some of the big runs from Justin Johnson that Alton gave up were among the game’s key plays, and it did hurt the Redbirds greatly.

“Those runs, it hurts,” Dickerson said. “That’s a momentum shifter, third and long, and they bust a big run out, but, you know, for the most part, I thought we played really well tonight.”

The Alton offensive line played very well, as did running back Tim Johnson and McNear.

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“It’s all running through my mind right now,” Dickerson said, “but the offensive line did pretty well up there, and Xavier McNear came out and made some big plays. Of course, our running back, Tim Johnson, and Javion Morgan, out wide, they did a great job. Our linebacking corps on defense, Antonio (Clanton, Jr.) and (Aamir) Gage, they did a great job.”

After holding the Tigers on the opening possession, the Redbirds struck first, going 67 yards in seven plays in 2:42, with the key play being a 45-yard pass play from Jones to Johnson that took the ball to the Tigers’ three. Two plays later, Bobby Smith took the ball home from two yards out, with Jake Lombardi’s conversion making it 7-0 for Alton.

Alton held Edwardsville again, this time of a fourth-down incompletion, but on the very next play, the Tigers recovered a fumble at the Redbird 22. From there, Hampton threw 11 yards to Goldsmith for a key first down, then found Goldsmith again from four yards out in the end zone for the equalizing touchdown. Eric Epenesa kicked the conversion to tie the game 7-7 with 1:48 left in the opening quarter.

Grant Matarelli then intercepted a pass and returned it to the Alton 30, and from there, Hampton took it himself, going up the middle 13 yards for a first down, then ran 17 yards for the touchdown that put Edwardsville up 14-7 after the convert.

It only took one play for the Redbirds to get the touchdown back, as Jones found McNear up the far sideline 54 yards for the tying touchdown after Lombardi’s PAT kick. Undaunted, the Tigers took off on an eight-play, 66-yard march that took 3:58 to complete. A Hampton pass to Young netted 25 yards to the Alton 32, and from there, Justin Johnson picked up 14 yards on a pair of runs. After a bad snap recovered by Hampton that cost Edwardsville 21 yards, Hampton threw 39 yards to Goldsmith, who made a great catch in traffic, for the touchdown that put the Tigers up to stay 21-14 after the conversion, with 7:56 left in the first half.

The Redbirds then started another march, with Tim Johnson going 30 yards up the middle with a direct snap, then a pair of swing passes from Jones to Johnson picking up 21 yards. The drive stalled, and Lombardi missed a 36-yard field goal attempt to give the ball back to Edwardsville.

Late in the first half, a pair of penalties against Alton put the ball on the Redbird 18, but a holding call against the Tigers moved them back to the Alton 26. A screen pass to Justin Johnson picked up 20, and Johnson then went the final six yards himself with 1:18 left in the first half to make the halftime score 28-14 for Edwardsville.

Alton got the ball to start the second half, and held it for 17 plays and took off nearly half the clock, as Tim Johnson ran for 14 yards on a direct snap, Jones found McNear for 14 yards, and a screen pass to Johnson gained another 17 yards. But on a fourth-and-goal play at the Tiger four, a pass to McNear was complete, but McNear was stopped short of the goal line to give the ball back to the Tigers.

In the fourth quarter, Edwardsville increased its lead with a seven-play, 86-yard march that featured three straight powerful runs by Justin Johnson that picked up a total of 38 yards. Johnson took a direct snap and ran 15 yards up the middle with 6:49 left that made it 35-14 after Epenesa’s convert.

The final score of the game came very late, as the Tigers went 33 yards in seven plays, with Revis, who had made many good runs throughout the game, picked up 11 yards for a first down, Johnson going another 17 yards, then going the final four yards up the middle to make the 42-14 final after the convert.

Dickerson was very impressed with the Tigers.

“Oh, yeah, that’s a great team over there,” Dickerson said. “Schemewise, they knew what they were doing, they executed very well, they don’t make mistakes. We learned a lot from tonight, so we’ll watch the film, and get better and be ready for next week.”

And Dickerson also felt it was a very entertaining game overall, and the Redbirds played very well.

“Second half wasn’t bad, either,” Dickerson said. “Third quarter, it remained 28-14, so, fourth quarter, they got to us a little bit, but we had to try some different things to move the ball, put some points on the board. So, in recollection, we played well tonight.”

Martin agreed that it was an entertaining game, and the fans did enjoy it very much.

“Yeah, I mean, I hope so,” Martin said. “They were what we thought they were, and we kept plugging away, put some points on the board. So, happy with our kids. We’ll watch film, and we’ll try to get better.”

And it was another positive step forward for the Tigers as they went to 3-1 on the season overall.

“I think Alton is a good football team, and they’re going to beat a lot of football teams," Coach Martin said, agreeing it was a very positive victory for his squad.

The Redbirds are now 2-2 on the season, and host East St. Louis next Friday night at Public School Stadium in a 7 p.m. game. The Tigers are at Belleville East in a 7 p.m. kickoff next Friday night.Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.

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