“Towering in gallant fame
Scotland my mountain hame,
High may your proud standards, gloriously wave.”
– Scotland the Brave 5th Stanza
7:22 on this 55-degree Tuesday Morning in the foothills with the snow on its way this week. One last week of extended Summer…hopefully.
The 1-4 Edinboro Fighting Scots played host to 4-1 Indiana PA University or IUP. Nearly 3700 fans filled Sox Harrison on the beautiful Homecoming afternoon. I’m sure plenty of folks were too disheartened by the poor start to the season and decided to take advantage of the mild North PA October day to enjoy Presque Isle 40 minutes North of Edinboro before the bitter cold and Lake Effect Snow settles in for the next 6 months. Or perhaps they enjoyed 18 short holes of golf at Nick’s Place. I hear “Go-Karts are now open too!” Plenty to enjoy if I ever make it up to that part of the world. As fun as the other activities may have been Saturday afternoon, those that chose to support the Fighting Scots were in for quite a treat, and it proved to be the place to be.
Edinboro jumped out front early with an impressive 11 play 73 yard TD drive and held a 14-12 lead at the break. They extended that lead to 20-15 with 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd but lost that lead 4 minutes into the 4th quarter. IUP 23- Edinboro 20 with 11:07 left in the game. The two teams traded scoreless possessions for the next 9 minutes of game time.
With 1:34 left in the game, Edinboro lined up at their own 33 for one last chance to deliver for the home Faithful. I’m sure the fans were saying to themselves “here we go, another loss by one score,” and they would be justified in saying so. But perhaps, sometimes, things just happen.
Edinboro, with the ball at the 13 yard line and 8 seconds left in the game, QB Isaac Bernard connected with WR Evan Low for a TD and would go on to win the game 27-23! Fighting Scots Forever! It’s funny that the stats predicted a 27-13 IUP score, and it was almost the exact reverse. STATS don’t matter.
What a game! One that I wish I could’ve witnessed. I was glued to the other action on TV and could not get the radio broadcast to load online, so I missed it in its entirety but could not be prouder of the Fight the Scots displayed. Every week they have fought only to come up short 4/5 times. This one mattered. This one meant more. This was a win built on self-belief and personal Pride from each individual. I’m sure IUP overlooked 1-4 Edinboro in a way because the records and stats showed them far superior, but they will do no such thing next week against Seton Hill coming off of back-to-back losses and dropping to 4-2.
Looking at the stat sheet I would say Sophomore Backup QB Bo Swartz was the player of the game. I do not know the circumstances, but he did play quite a bit and at different positions. In his limited action, Swartz completed both passes he attempted for 9 yards and a TD, he rushed the ball twice for 19 yards and 2 TD’s and caught one pass. Quite a game from the young man from Rural Valley.
Not to be outdone, leading the defense was Linebacker Wilfredo Diaz. He impressively totaled 15 tackles and one of the two Interceptions forced by the Scot defense. What a game and what an effort by both of these young men. Wilfredo is playing for keeps in his sophomore season totaling 84 tackles through the first 6 games including 22 in the Week 1 loss to East Stroudsburg. Beast Mode. Is there a NIL Transfer in the future for the young man from Miami? He’s earning it.
Cherish the wins, celebrate them, recognize them, remember them, but just like bad losses, leave them in the rearview mirror. A visit to Clarion is next and the Scots will need to regain their focus to be sure to Fight like hell like they always do.
I am proud to be a Fighting Scot supporter from afar. Very far, but proud nonetheless.
I’ll have a preview of the Clarion game out soon.
Find the Humor and keep on Movin’
Whit W.