Edinburgh football blanks Rock Creek

By Dan Angell
For the Daily Journal

Tripping up against Traders Point Christian the previous game meant Edinburgh had to wait a full week to clinch its second five-win season in the past 28 years. On Friday night, the Lancers weren’t willing to wait even one play longer than necessary.

Not one of Edinburgh’s six scoring drives lasted longer than one play against Rock Creek Academy, as Edinburgh’s defense and Lion mistakes gave Lancer quarterback Riley Palmeter several short fields to work with. The senior responded with six touchdown passes to four different receivers and Caleb Dewey added a punt return for a score, as Edinburgh earned the elusive fifth win and clinched at least a .500 season with a 48-0 victory.

“Riley hinted that he wanted to score a few more touchdowns,” Edinburgh coach Tyler DeSpain said with a slight smile. “I’ve never had that (the one-play drives), and obviously, we’d have liked to get a little more yardage to help our guys with stats and the records we’re trying to break. But it was a good night overall for the program in general.”

Palmeter got the rout started with a 34-yard TD pass to Dewey five minutes into the game, then added a 40-yarder to Braylon Bryant just 1:44 later. Landen Burton hauled in a 17-yard scoring pass with 10:58 left in the half, and Jarrett Turner hit paydirt on a 12-yarder at the 8:15 mark.

Another touchdown throw to Burton, this one from 25 yards out, made it 35-0, and after Dewey’s 55-yard return stretched the lead to 42, Palmeter found Bryant again from 15 yards to cap the scoring with 2:15 still remaining before halftime.

DeSpain’s mood was a bit muted despite the comfortable victory. Part of that was because he saw in an overmatched Rock Creek (1-6) the same things that he saw in his Lancers (5-3) three years ago as his staff was attempting to revive a program that was flat on its back. The other part was that he knew Edinburgh had the ability to perform even better than the final score indicated.

The Lancers gave away a pair of golden opportunities to score in the second quarter with fumbles, and when they did attempt to string a drive together, it was often undone with an ill-timed penalty. Edinburgh got away with it against an overmatched opponent, but as the job gets tougher, that’s not something that DeSpain wants to see repeated. He was willing to excuse mistakes from his reserves as they gained game experience, but the first-half errors were another matter.

“We kill ourselves with turnovers, and that’s been a thing we’ve done in the first quarter or two,” DeSpain said. “That’s something we’ve got to work on and continue to work on, and hopefully we can get ready for Park Tudor and do the things we need to do.”

The Lancers’ special teams certainly did what they needed to, as they blocked two punts in addition to Dewey’s touchdown return. Both blocked punts turned into Palmeter passing touchdowns on the next play, allowing Edinburgh to enjoy a moment that’s been a long time coming.

“It’s big for our program and our community,” DeSpain said. “Even on fall break, we had a good crowd, and it’s the support Edinburgh always shows. That’s the community we have, and it’s a great community to be a part of.”