BELLEVILLE – For Dionte Rodgers, this is getting to be old hat.
Rodgers had another big game for Edwardsville Friday night, running for four touchdowns as the Tigers went to 5-0 overall, 3-0 in the Southwestern Conference, with a 49-13 win over Belleville East to set up their showdown game with East St. Louis at Tiger Stadium next week.
Rodgers had TD runs of 2, 12, 61 and 13 yards – all in the first half – as the Tigers got out to a 28-0 lead at the half before they ran out winners.
“Keep pounding,” Rodger said about his 61-yard TD run. “Coach (Bryan Young, one of the Tiger assistants) told me to keep driving my feet and keep hitting the holes hard and don’t try to get tackled by arm tackles. That’s what I did, and I got the job done.”
“I thought the O-line and the receivers did a great job all night long,” said Tiger coach Matt Martin, “and I think there were some big holes for Dionte to run through.”
That’s not to say the Tigers played a perfect game; the Tigers had three turnovers in the first half. “We self-inflicted some wounds,” Martin said. “Belleville East made plays, so give them credit. Three turnovers – that’s not good.”
Rodgers’ touchdowns were set up with some big runs from Daval Torres. “We were able to get that edge and the receivers were blocking well downfield; he’s not the fastest guy, but he’s pretty crafty. He’ll make you miss.
“They caught us guessing a couple of times defensively,” said Lancer coach Kris Stephens, “and they really hurt us up the middle. It’s been the story of the week; we let one guy get loose and we can stop a bunch, but we can’t stop everything.”
Torres himself scored on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Brenden Dickmann in the third term, and backup quarterback Kendall Abdur-Rahman scored to invoke the running-clock rules; Edwardsville’s scoring was capped off with a 93-yard touchdown return on a kickoff for the Tigers in the final quarter.
The Lancers fell to 1-4 on the year, 1-2 in the SWC.
