An extra week of preparation isn’t a bad thing when high school football teams begin preparing for the postseason.
Initially, Edinburgh coaches and players weren’t thrilled with the idea, but eventually warmed up to having 14 days between the Lancers’ regular-season finale and tonight’s Class A sectional opener at Cambridge City Lincoln.
Edinburgh was barely halfway into its regular-season schedule when the Lancers found out there would be no Week 9 game.
On September 13, a day before Trinity Lutheran was to play Indianapolis Lighthouse, the school was notified by the Indiana High School Athletic Association it was in violation of an enrollment-related rule. The Cougars’ roster had 21 players.
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“As soon as it happened, we felt we would have more time to prepare for our sectional game,” said Edinburgh senior lineman Zach Giles, the Lancers’ fourth-leading tackler with 50. “You just have to go with the flow. I definitely think the extra practice has helped us.”
Edinburgh coach Jason Burton had to tell his players Trinity Lutheran, a Seymour-based school of 143 students, canceled the remainder of its season after an 0-3 start. The Cougars, who defeated the Lancers last season, 36-16, were competitive in two of their first three games this season before the decision to cancel the rest of the season was made.
“Honestly, it’s not a talk I want to have again with my kids,” Burton said of Trinity Lutheran’s decision to suspend its program for the second time since it was founded in 2012. “We reiterated to them that we tried to schedule an opponent, but it was already so late in the season.
“I was surprised because I knew (Trinity Lutheran’s) numbers were in the 20s. I spent probably two hours calling and emailing people to see if we could get a game.”
Finding a school of comparable size that had the same Friday night open wasn’t going to be easy on such short notice. One possibility, Lake Station, a Class 2A program near Lake Michigan, had the same Week 9 opening, but wasn’t interested when contacted by Burton.
The schools are separated by 186 miles.
“It was going to be about a 3 1/2-hour drive for the visiting team,” Burton said.
Those associated with Lancers football eventually accepted their fate and have done everything possible to make it into a positive.
Players were disappointed, but the extra time off has been beneficial in two ways — getting healthy and having additional time to prepare for Cambridge City Lincoln. Edinburgh dressed just 14 players in a 57-8 loss at Eastern Greene less than a month ago but is expected to be at 20 tonight.
Lancer coaches and some of the players made the most of a rare Friday night off by driving to South Decatur to watch Cambridge City play its final regular-season game. It was an opportunity to attain any small advantage by seeing what the Golden Eagles do well and areas where they might struggle.
It might make the difference between two evenly matched squads. Edinburgh is 0-8, while Cambridge City Lincoln is 0-9. The teams average 12 and 12.2 points per game, respectively.
“I was kind of disappointed about not playing (Week 9),” senior left tackle/defensive end Jordan Myers said. “It’s always fun to play Trinity Lutheran, but it gave us more time to prepare for Cambridge City Lincoln.”
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TONIGHT’S SECTIONAL GAMES
Class 5A
Franklin at Whiteland, 7 p.m.
Class 4A
Greenwood at New Castle, 7 p.m.
Class 3A
Indian Creek vs. Crispus Attucks at Arsenal Tech, 7 p.m.
Class A
Edinburgh at Cambridge City Lincoln, 7:30 p.m.
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