5 Takeaways: Edwardsville vs O’Fallon

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Friday night we headed to Edwardsville to see the Tigers take on O'Fallon.&nbsp; It was all the host school from the beginning.&nbsp; Edwardsville dominated on both sides of the ball winning 46-10.&nbsp; They move to 3-1 on the season with the impressive victory.&nbsp; Here are our <strong>5 Takeaways: Edwardsville vs O'Fallon</strong>!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Hill-Lomax Shows Why Power 4 Schools Are in Pursuit</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The player we were most looking forward to evaluating in this one was 6'5” wide out [player_tooltip player_id='1404803' first='Devyon' last='Hill-Lomax'].&nbsp; The 2026 pass catcher has tremendous physical tools with his size, length, catch radius, and speed.&nbsp; When we saw him during their scrimmage at the beginning of the season he didn't catch a pass.&nbsp; That changed in this one!&nbsp; He had a monster game.&nbsp; Through three quarters the highly ranked wide receiver had 5 catches for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns.&nbsp; The two scores came from a long ways away too.&nbsp; First one was a 59 yard catch on a go route where he adjusted to the throw beautifully in the air and then ran it home for a score.&nbsp; Second TD was on a quick slant that he caught with his hands and then broke a couple tackles to take it the distance showing breakaway speed.&nbsp; Also had a 13 yard slant, 16 yard out route, and another long ball down the sideline for 37 yards going up in the air to win in a contested situation.&nbsp; Only had one drop on the night going over the middle where he got hit by the safety.&nbsp; Really liked what he presented in this one as a versatile big receiver that can go deep along with use his body positioning on short routes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Epenesa Shows Out vs Run and Pass</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Top ranked senior [player_tooltip player_id='830235' first='Iose' last='Epenesa'] did what he does as usual on the defensive side of the ball.&nbsp; He got after the opponent especially in the run game.&nbsp; Over and over again the PA was calling out his name for making tackles against the run.&nbsp; He is a defensive end that plays with a ton of power and physicality.&nbsp; Gets off blocks consistently and flows to the ball to make plays.&nbsp; Against the pass he had several QB pressures and hits with his explosion off the edge, pursuit, and chasing the thrower all over the field.&nbsp; Iowa is getting a star!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Edwardsville Defense Dominant at All Levels</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Edwardsville defense is more than just Epenesa however.&nbsp; They have stars at all three levels.&nbsp; Epenesa up front, 2025 linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1564069' first='Javion' last='Smith'] at the second line of defense, then 2025 [player_tooltip player_id='1292245' first='Clayton' last='Lakatos'] on the back end.&nbsp; Smith is a tackling machine.&nbsp; The thumper in the middle is a load in the run game with excellent instincts and ability to track the back through traffic to make the key plays.&nbsp; Lakatos is an excellent athlete at the safety position.&nbsp; He covers a lot of ground on the back end and tackles well vs the run.&nbsp; Also brings value as a punt returner and even scored a touchdown on a run to the perimeter.&nbsp; The speed was evident wherever he lined up!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There were a few other notable performers in this one as well.&nbsp; Early in the game the tone was set with a pick 6 by Jaydon Cole.&nbsp; The 5'10” defensive back read the eyes of the QB and pounced cutting in front of the wide out for the interception then took it to the house.&nbsp; Two other standouts that were always around the ball were 2025 Jackson Ward and 2025 Noah Ramirez who play with speed and ferocity.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three Back Attack for Tigers</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For Edwardsville they have three quality running backs they can rely on.&nbsp; The top one is [player_tooltip player_id='1564673' first='Steven' last='Moore'].&nbsp; The 5'10” 2025 runner has great burst with the ball in his hands.&nbsp; Runs with power and accelerates through the hole.&nbsp; His best play of the day came on a 51 yard scamper to the endzone for a score.&nbsp; Next up was their change of pace speed back in 2025 Gavyn Yates.&nbsp; We liked the quickness and suddenness that he ran with.&nbsp; Also has some power that he showed as well.&nbsp; On the goal line they can bring in the hammer in [player_tooltip player_id='1564069' first='Javion' last='Smith'] to power it in as the linebacker also scored a touchdown in this game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>O'Fallon Youth Presents Promise Long Term</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Despite the slow start to the season for O'Fallon the good news is they have some young talent to build around.  We thought 2026 linebacker Jack Hettenhausen showed promise as the 5'11” junior was super active throughout the night racking up tackles.  They featured 2027 back [player_tooltip player_id='1598849' first='Luka' last='Freidenberg'] more as the game went along.  The 5'9” 180 pound back has some quickness in the hole and showed he can move the chains.  Scored their only touchdown of the night in the fourth quarter.  Class of 2027 defensive back Caleb Harrington has some tools at 5'11” with the ability to lay the hammer as a safety.  Their kicker was a standout as well with 2027 Brogran Hartmann nailing a deep field goal along with showing nice power on his kickoffs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->