Edison Cruises, Time for St. Thomas
By Rudy Rodriguez-Chomat
November 14, 2003

There is no longer any chance of an Edison-Melbourne Palm Bay Class 5A state championship game anymore, but it’s not because the Red Raiders didn’t take care of their end of the bargain. 

Behind a stout defense that limited Cooper City to 69 yards of total offense, Edison rolled to a 42-0 blowout win in the Region 4-5A quarterfinals before 1,500 fans at North Miami Stadium. At the same time, Palm Bay the top-ranked team in Class 5A lost 21-19 to Winter Springs. 

This means Edison’s game next week’s game at St. Thomas Aquinas, a 35-0 winner over Delray Beach Atlantic could possibly determine the Class 5A champion. 

“The game is next week against St. Thomas,” Edison coach Corey Bell said. “That’s the game the kids have been looking forward to.” 

The onslaught of the Cowboys started early as Edison forced two turnovers in the first six minutes of the game in building a 14-0 lead at the end of one quarter. 

But the game took a serious turn with 9:05 to play in the second quarter when Cooper City’s Shawn Lindsay was knocked unconscious on a vicious hit by Edison’s Tim Torrence. Lindsay was unconscious for two minutes before coming to, but was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital. He did have movement though in his arms and legs. Torrence was also taken to Jackson for precautionary measures even though he jogged off the field after the hit. 

The injury forced the game to be stopped for over 45 minutes and the stadium had to be cleared for a period of time while the helicopter landed. 

The Cooper City sideline was very unhappy with the way the situation was handled. 

“I was very surprised at how long it took paramedics to get here,” Cooper City coach Jim Elder said, in reference to the fact it took about 20 minutes for the ambulance to show up. “We require an ambulance be on site in Broward before we can even kickoff a game.” 

Bell concurred. 

“It’s something the high school association definitely has to look at, especially because of an emergency tonight,” Bell said. “They emphasize safety first. That is a priority that needs to be followed.” 

Edison upped the lead to 21-0 on a 25-yard touchdown run by Chad Simpson on the first play after the stoppage and the game effectively over. Simpson led the team with 7 carries for 65 yards and three touchdowns. 

“We have to come out and execute and play our game next week,” Bell said. “There is no bigger game than the St. Thomas game.”