“Far off in sunlit places
Sad are the Scottish faces
Yearning to feel the kiss of sweet Scottish rain.” – Scotland the Brave 4th Stanza Robert Wilson
At 1-4, the Fighting Scot faithful, may yen for the same as the described Scottish Rain, instead of watching their beloved football team, in utter pain. Mundane.
Remember, find the humor.
1-4? Who cares? The past is the past. Press on to new endeavors, Present moments always last.
Ok! Enough is enough. I like to have fun. Truth be told I didn’t know The Edinboro Fighting Scots existed until the eve of the Robert Morris game Week 2, so my input and analysis of the team from my home over 1500 miles away should mean next to nil.
However, I’ve kept up with them and I enjoy football, even romanticize it in a way. Small leagues like the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) are where football is played for the sheer love of the sport. Teams like the Fighting Scots make their weekly trek across the countryside to do battle on the gridiron with another rival town.
Sure, this league has produced its fair share of elite football talent, but guys like James Franklin (East Stroudsburg), John Kuhn (Shippensburg), and NFL Hall of Famer Andre Reed (Kutztown) are not on every roster these days. Like 98 percent of the rest of college athletes playing currently, most of these players will “go pro in something other than sports.” But that’s what makes it fun.
Take Edinboro Punter and Defensive Back Reed Martin. Homegrown down the road in Plum P. A. He has played four years for this Fighting Scot squad after being a four year All Conference selection while representing Plum Senior High. All he does is terrorize opposing teams with his gigantic right boot. Week in week out he hits booming punt after booming punt backing the opposition within inches of their own goal line. Robert Morris is waking in Christ Church over Reed’s game sealing punt Week 2. You remember how it played out? Well, let me tell you, it was riveting to watch unfold as I read the play by play transcript describe the game to me through my laptop screen while sitting at my bar top.
Playing away at Robert Morris, with the hostile crowds of Moon Township bearing down upon them, the game square at 21-21, and deep in its latter stages, who stepped up to flip the game on its head, Senior, #14, Reed Martin. And by flip, I do mean literally. The Edinboro Punt Team Specialists downed the 74 yard punt at the 1, completely flipping the field and giving the Scot defense a little extra juice as they ran onto the field. On cue, almost as if it were a story I was making up in my own head, the Edinboro defense delivered the blow.
6’2” Linebacker Tristan Waldier, in a moment he had been dreaming of his entire life, met the Robert Morris QB at the 2 yard line and knocked the ball free and casually out of the endzone for a safety with a bone crunching tackle. Safety! 23-21, Edinboro Shocks the World!
At least that’s how I read the words as they updated every twenty minutes or so. It wasn’t that slow, but it felt like it.
All because Reed Martin believed in himself. The 3,000+ Colonials inside Joe Walton Stadium were creating such a clatter that St. Nick was envious. He didn’t care. He did his job. And notably, so did the Special Teams Coverage. 74 yards, downed at the 1! Are you kidding me? And do not think this is a one-off occurrence. Not necessarily kicking 70+ yarders, but he constantly delivers for his team. Just last week he was PSAC West Player of the Week for his 5 punts against Slippery Rock that averaged 49 yards with 3 downed inside the 20.
Reed Martin has a lucky boot, and because of leagues like the PSAC and of all kinds throughout College Football, we get to recognize the greatness that can be found in small moments by players that will most likely “go pro in something other than sports.”
Of course, as I am typing this, I realize that Reed Martin is one that certainly could go pro in his sport if he wanted. For starters, his Uncle Dave was a Bison of Bucknell on the gridiron, so hardnosed football runs in his blood. Just wanted to work that fun fact in there. But he has far more than family pedigree.
Reed has the stats, he has the big moments, he has the consistent track record, he can make the tackle if he has to, and he is from Plum. A punter from Plum has a nice ring to it, and you know, Pat McAfee’s Plum Alum. That is going to matter to some, but should matter to all. From Edinboro to the NFL, Reed Martin coming NEXT FALL! Steady.
I love stories and I love this sport. The 1-4 record means nothing to me. I’m Fightin Scot forever.
Moving onto this week.
The Indiana University of Pennsylvania Crimson Hawks (IUP) are leaving the safety of their home nestled against the White Woods Nature Center and making the journey North onto the Fighting Scot home soil Saturday at 2PM. The partly cloudy sky, 62 degree day, with a slight breeze out of the SW will make a perfect Fall football setting as these two PSAC Giants do battle.
The journey North from Indiana will be a 2 ½ to 3-hour drive depending on the route taken and depending on if the construction on 422 near the bridge at Lake Arthur is clogging the lanes. FREE it up on the weekend PennDOT.
IUP has been nothing short of impressive this season. They go fast, they run a lot of plays, and they gain an average of 5.3 yards on those plays. This team likes to move. However, I do see a pattern in their scoring in my 3 minutes of scanning their entire season. The IUP offense loves scoring in the Red Zone. 24 times to the red zone this season, and 21 times, they scored. 15 being TD’s. The offense has scored a total of 18 TD’s this season. So, it seems simple—Keep them out of them RedZone and you have a chance. This team is good. 4-1 and the only loss was to #9 Slippery Rock 33-32.
Senior Reed Martin will get his chance to impact the game, but hopefully not too many times. The Waldier Brothers (CJ and Tristan) and leading tackler Wilfredo Diaz who fill out the Linebackers corps will have their opportunity to impact this game. QB Isaac Bernard to WR Teegan Brown 1-2 times would be nice. I have no idea what will happen. The stats say 27-13 is a likely possibility, but what do stats know. DO stats predict a subtle shift in a breeze or an untimely temporary dip in atmospheric pressure that cause a FG to go wide? Do stats predict one team showing up with a little extra juice in front of their home crowd inside Sox Harrison Stadium ready to see their home team deliver a homecoming victory? Do stats predict Reed Martin punting with such precision that he can name the blade of grass it will land on inside the 5 yard line?
The late B. Regis “Sox” Harrison coached from 1926-1938 and again from 1941-42 and earned a spot in the Hall of Fame for his time serving on the gridiron. It was a different time back then. He not only served as football coach but Athletic Director, and coached every sport the school offered, and his Summers were spent not on the recruiting trail, but at the Sunset Camp which he owned and operated. This was Summer Camp for youngsters on the shore of Edinboro Lake that was a “7-week Summer Haven.” – Edinboro Area Historical Society
Do stats account for players filled with sheer love of the game and pride in their hearts to play on a field named after such a man? A man remembered for his “coaching success and spirit generated by his exuberance” as it says on the gofightingscots webpage. NO. The stats do not. The stats mean nothing in this one. This is homecoming. This is Edinboro. This is the Fighting Scots.
Fight like Hell you Fighting Scots
Fight for us Again!
We long more for a victory
In lieu of Scottish Rain.
I’m enjoying learning little bits about each of these quaint Pennsylvania towns as Edinboro continues their journey through the PSAC gauntlet. My better half has already penned the date of the next Annual Giant Quilt Sale in Kutztown.
20-19 EDINBORO FINAL. GO big or go home! I believe.
Find the Humor and keep on Movin’
Whit W.