Edison’s senior quarterback/running back/wide receiver/defensive specialist Ben Barber has created quite a stir in the team’s first two games this season.
Barber, an all-everything wide receiver the past two seasons, switched to quarterback this year after Shawn Lloyd graduated. The move, according to Eagles head coach Vaughn Lewis, was done to give the playmaker more touches. His numbers have been consistent thus far, accounting for nearly 500 yards of total offense, but Edison is 1-1 and its offense has sputtered at times.
"Ideally we would like to move Branden [Suggs] back to quarterback," Lewis said. Suggs, a senior, had been the Eagles backup the past two years. Last week, Edison fell to West Springfield 27-20, scoring six points over the games final three-quarters. The Eagles also committed five turnovers.
Edison’s opponent this week, South County, had no problems moving the ball against Falls Church, in a 44-7 win last week. Stallions head coach Pete Bendorf has noticed the Eagles’ woes on tapes he has watched. "I am sure they are not as smooth offensively as they want to be at this point," said Bendorf. "Barber is not a great quarterback yet because he is relying on his athletic ability."

LAST SEASON, the Stallions pulled off a surprising 23-21 win at Edison. In that game, Edison had problems holding onto the football, fumbling three times in the first quarter. Revenge for last year’s loss is not something that Lewis believes is on his players’ minds.
"There is not much revenge for last year’s game but more from last week’s," Lewis said.
Edison is the defending Northern Region Div. 5 champion and the state runner up. South County missed the playoffs on the last day of the 2006 regular season. The Stallions opened this year against region power Westfield and struggled in a decisive loss. Bendorf believes that his Stallions need to do a better job of guarding against the run, something they have struggled with early.
Some players on South County’s roster, including senior Titus Pennington, transferred to South County as sophomores.
"It’s really important to play against the same people you played with your freshman year," said Pennington, who was on the Eagles’ freshman team. "It’s also fun too." The now South County senior leader said the game against Edison proves that they can compete with teams of that caliber.
"It ties into just attitude and trying to be committed to doing what it takes it to beat teams like Edison," Pennington said.

MORALE IN the Eagles’ locker room was low, according to Lewis, after the West Springfield loss. Lewis said he was proud of the way his team never quit. He believes the Stallions’ offense is similar to the Spartans, and that could cause problems for his defense.
"They have more strength than we have, but we have more team speed," Lewis said. The veteran coach also said that the Eagles need to stop turning the ball over so much.
For senior wide receiver Drew Baldwin, who leads the Eagles in receptions, the Stallion game is important to show how far the offense has come in one week.
"[The offense] is not the way we want it to be and it's not the way we want it to be clicking," said Baldwin. He added that Edison should become better as the weeks progress.