Warhawks focus on Falcons' Edwards
Game facts
What: UW-River Falls (2-4, 0-3) at UW-Whitewater (6-0, 3-0) in WIAC football. It is Whitewater's homecoming and Hall of Fame Day.
When: Noon kickoff.
Where: Perkins Stadium, Whitewater.
Numbers: Whitewater is a four-time defending champion in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Warhawks are No. 2 in all NCAA Division III national ratings. They are 33-1 at Perkins Stadium since the start of the 2005 season.
Coaches: Whitewater—Lance Leipold, third year; 16-1 in WIAC, 33-3 overall. River Falls—John O'Grady, 21st year, longest-serving coach in the WIAC; 72-68-3 in WIAC, 101-96-3 overall.
TV/radio: Charter Cable, Channel 20; WKCH, 106.5 FM.
WHITEWATER — UW-River Falls football coach John O'Grady liked what he saw on film of Taylor Edwards.
The live footage has been even more impressive.
Edwards, a 2007 Janesville Parker graduate, is the starting tailback for the Falcons. He has rushed for 772 yards this season for a 5.0 yards per carry average and has scored eight touchdowns.
Heading into Saturday's game at second-ranked UW-Whitewater, Edwards is averaging 128.7 yards per game.
"We really liked what we saw of Taylor in high school, but we don't usually get the good Janesville kids to come all the way up here," O'Grady said of the former first-team all-state running back. "He had talked about coming up here for a year and a half, and since he arrived here in the fall, he has caught on very quickly.
"In our zone offense, Taylor is a perfect fit. He's very quick, and although I wouldn't call him a slasher-type runner, he runs hard and he runs north and south."
As a Parker senior, Edwards set Janesville records with a six-touchdown, 326-yard game, along with 2,383 yards rushing and 34 touchdowns en route to a unbeaten regular season and an undisputed Big Eight Conference championship.
Edwards originally enrolled at Whitewater and planned to play for the Warhawks but a logjam at the running back position changed his mind. He dropped out of Whitewater and took classes at UW-Rock County last year before transferring to UW-River Falls for the 2009-10 academic year.
River Falls (2-4, 0-3), despite a sub-.500 record, has been able to run the ball on every opponent and is coming off a 49-47, triple-overtime loss to UW-La Crosse. Edwards had 142 yards and three touchdowns in that much-talked-about thriller.
Led by Edwards, the Falcons are averaging 209.3 yards per game rushing. Edwards gained a season-high 246 yards on the ground in earning WIAC Offensive Play of the Week honors in a 40-27 nonconference win over Alma College.
"We've got kind of a unique offensive line," O'Grady said. "We're not very big, but we're very athletic. And with Taylor being the workhorse that he is, the line just loves to block for him.
"But obviously, we haven't seen a defense anywhere near as good as Whitewater's. You watch them on film and realize there is nowhere to attack them because they don't have any weaknesses."
O'Grady said what impresses him most about the Warhawks (6-0, 3-0) is how methodical they are in everything they do. No trickery. No reverses. Nothing out of the ordinary.
"They just come right at you," O'Grady said. "And that's what good football teams do. You know what's coming, and your job is to try and stop it.
"But our guys our excited. This is a chance to see how good we really are against one of the top teams in the country."
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