It was a break from the heat Saturday morning at Edwardsville High School, but the Edwardsville Little Tigers 11u football team came out on fire.

With seven minutes remaining in the first quarter the Tigers were faced with a fourth-and-2, and running back Noah Ramirez ran right through the gut of the O’Fallon Panther defense for a first down.

Shortly after, Jaden Cole stretched an 11-yard run to the end zone to open up the scoring at 7-0.

“That first touchdown was very exciting,” Cole said. “I was happy to get my team on the board.”

And Cole wasn’t done yet. After a fumble recovery by linebacker Tristan Lance, Cole punched another outside run into the end zone. The extra point attempt failed, but the Tigers still took a commanding 13-0 lead.

The Panthers quickly responded with a touchdown of their own in the second quarter. Then on the following drive the Tigers were forced to punt, and O’Fallon returned the kick all the way back for their second touchdown of the game.

Going into halftime the Tigers held on to a narrow 13-12 lead, and that score carried into the fourth quarter after neither team could find offense in the third.

A couple of key defensive stops down the stretch and a 9-yard touchdown run by Ramirez sealed the deal for the Little Tigers, who walked away with a 20-12 win.

“The defense played excellent and caused a lot of negative plays,” coach Sam Ramirez said. “We played a full four quarters.”

Coach Ramirez was also pleased with his team’s offensive execution.

“We put together some real nice drives and executed all the way down the field while eating the clock,” he said. “It was a team effort. Everyone came to work and played hard.”

*as seen in The Intelligencer