FOOTBALL
1991 Season
As a sophomore, he got a lot of playing time with the varsity team.
Playing their city rivals in week one, the Red Raiders scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to help defeat Sehome 16-14. The Mariners had a chance with eight seconds left, but a 42-yard field goal try came up just short. Edwards had his first varsity carry in the game, and it went for four yards.
In week two, Bellingham traveled to Burlington-Edison and the Tigers ran for 277 yards and picked up the 21-7 win.
The Red Raiders bounced back a week later at home by shutting out Arlington 28-0, despite being penalized 12 times for 115 yards.
The rest of the season would be a tough one as injuries, and losses, began to mount up.
Back-to-back road losses against Sedro-Woolley and Meadowdale but Bellingham under .500 for the first time during the season.
A week later, Anacortes came to town and beat Bellingham 39-14, but Edwards scored his first varsity touchdown on a 6-yard pass from Caleb Jensen late in the third quarter. He also had a 10-yard reception in the game.
Bellingham staged a dramatic comeback the following week at Stanwood, but fell short in the final minute before losing to the Spartans 34-32. Edwards had a 4-yard run and a 19-yard reception in the contest.
In the home finale against Mount Vernon, the Bulldogs rolled up the Red Raiders 34-0, and Edwards caught a pass for the third consecutive game.
And, in the season finale at Ferndale, he had his best game of the season with 19 yards rushing on three carries, and he also caught four passes for a game-high 84 yards.
Bellingham closed the season with a 2-7 record, and he finished the season fourth on the team in receiving.
1991 SEASON STATISTICS
1992 Season
His junior season started out with a huge game against Sehome at Civic Stadium, but this time the Mariners beat the Red Raiders for the first time in eight years. Sehome led 25-0 at halftime, and Edwards scored one a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, but that would be it as the Mariners won 25-6.
Much like the season before, Burlington-Edison put up big rushing stats, this time on its way to beating Bellingham 19-0. Edwards was featured heavily in the Red Raiders passing attack, and caught three passes for 63 yards.
In week three, Arlington got revenge from last season’s shutout by beating Bellingham 34-6. It was big play after big play for the Eagles throughout the game. Edwards put forth 53 yards from scrimmage, but it wasn’t enough.
A shoutout loss from Sedro-Woolley at home demoralized the Red Raiders the following week.
Bellingham then welcomed Meadowdale into town as the two did battle on a Thursday night. The Red Raiders dropped a 12-6 decision, despite having chances, just not capitalizing on them.
Now Bellingham (0-5) was going on the road to face Anacortes (4-1). On paper, it looked like a complete mismatch, but on the field it was everything but that. With the Red Raiders leading by seven points, with less than two minutes remaining in the game, they were faced with a 4th-and-13 situation. Nothing to lose, right? Bellingham ran a fake punt with the ball being snapped to upback Chris Fowler who took it 24 yards up the left sideline for a first down. The Red Raiders kept possession, and won the game 49-42. Fowler finished with a 298 yards on 37 carries. Edwards led the team in receiving with three catches for 53 yards.
It was the high-point of the season as Bellingham would go winless the rest of the way.
Against Stanwood, Edwards caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Jensen with 55 seconds left until halftime which cut the Spartan lead to 14-7, but Stanwood caught fire in the second half and walked away with a 41-14 victory.
Edwards scored his third touchdown of the season the following week at Mount Vernon, but the Bulldogs rolled up 389 yards on the ground in a 33-21 Mount Vernon victory.
In the finale, Ferndale beat Bellingham 39-19 to wrap up the 1992 season. The Red Raiders finished 1-8. Edwards finished fifth on the team in rushing, and was the second leading receiver.
1992 SEASON STATISTICS
1993 Season
A lot was put on Edwards for his senior season, and he answered the call in more ways than one.
A lot was shown in week one as he scored three touchdowns in the first half, finished with 144 yards rushing (averaging over 10 yards per carry) as Bellingham beat Monroe 36-0 at Civic Stadium.
To prove it wasn’t a fluke, the Red Raiders then traveled to Sedro-Woolley to take on the rough and tough Cubs. Bellingham committed four turnovers and was penalized 12 times for 88 yards, but the defense rose to the occasion as Bellingham got the 10-0 shutout win. Edwards ran the ball 23 times for 94 yards.
Now back at home, the Red Raiders faced Northwest League newcomer Lynden. Edwards pounded and sprinted for a career-high 179 yards on 23 carries. 16 of his carries came in the second half when Bellingham had four time-consuming drives.
His biggest run came early in the second quarter when he burst off left tackle and raced 70 yards until being brought down at the Lion 18-yard line. He eventually scored five plays later, dragging three defenders with him. Bellingham went on to win 14-7.
On the road, against Burlington-Edison, Bellingham was down 21-7 in the fourth quarter. But, too late touchdowns, one of them scored by Edwards, rallied the Red Raiders and sent the game into overtime. The Tigers were able to score on their possession, and Bellingham was stopped, and Burlington won 27-21.
That set up the big game against the undefeated Sehome Mariners. In front of an estimated 4,000 fans at Civic Stadium, Sehome bested Bellingham 20-0. Edwards ran for 42 yards, the rest of the Red Raiders combined for seven rushing yards.
Bellingham got back on track the following week at Anacortes as Edwards, and the rest of the Red Raider linebackers were let loose to rush the passer, which they did successfully in the 42-11 victory. Edwards also managed 132 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
Back at home, Bellingham blasted Ferdnale 42-7. Edwards led the defense that set the tone early as the Golden Eagles were held to minus-2 yards and zero first downs in the first half. He also had a monster game offensively, leading his team with 151 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
The Red Raiders kept their winning streak alive on the road against Stanwood, with Edwards being a main reason for it. In the narrow 17-9 victory, it was him that scored both of the Bellingham touchdowns. He also ran for a team-high 72 yards, caught a 20-yard pass and he completed a 22-yard halfback-pass to Chris Lipton.
It was a tough loss at home for Bellingham to close the season, but Mount Vernon got the 34-7 victory. The Red Raiders started strong, and on the game’s first play Edwards broke away from the pile and gained 58 yards. Three plays later, Bellingham got into the end zone, but that would be the only time. Edwards finished with 81 yards on the ground.
The Red Raiders finished the season with a 6-3 record, and Edwards was named All-NWL 1st Team at both running back and linebacker.
1993 SEASON STATISTICS
Football Career
It was a great career for that saw big ups and downs throughout. When he graduated, he was sixth player in school history to surpass 1,000 career rushing yards. His 923 rushing yards, and 11 rushing touchdowns, were also the third most for a season in school history. Also, his senior season, Bellingham went 6-3, that’s a .667 winning percentage. Since that season (1993), Bellingham has never matched that percentage. In 2014, Edwards was named the 499th best football player in Whatcom County history.
CAREER STATISTICS
WRESTLING
1990-91 Season
As a freshman, Edwards mostly wrestling at the JV level, but did have an early season match against Ferndale’s Sean McKay at 135 pounds. Edwards was not pinned, but lost the match, 6-1
1991-92 Season
As a sophomore, and wrestling at 158 pounds, Edwards had some bright moments in his first full year of varsity wrestling. Although he did not advance in the postseason, he did pick up pins against Kurt Johnson of Lynden, and David Wertz of Anacortes. He also victories over Teddy Villamarin of Oak Harbor (9-6), Scott Floyd of Mount Vernon (9-3) and Ron Finkbonner of Ferndale (7-4).
1992-93 Season
This would prove to be Edwards’ best year on the mat, and he started the year with a second round pin over Sehome’s Tory Pazaski at 158 pounds. After a few losses at 158 pounds, he then was bumped up to 168 pounds.
At the new weight he gained victories over Leonard Hull of Highline, John Bachelor of Anacortes and Lee Kramme of Stanwood. Before season’s end, he was back at 158 pounds and beat Ferndale’s Mike McInnis 9-7.
In the NWL Tournament he avenged an early season loss to Sedro-Woolley’s Brian Davis by beating him 17-8. Edwards went on to finish 4th in the League.
He then placed fifth in the district tournament, and therefore was a state alternate.
Wrestling Career
Despite not wrestling his senior season, he still had a strong career. Even though he took some losses here and there, they were rarely by pinfall.
BASEBALL
1993 Season
He first got his varsity action in this his junior season, and he made an immediate impact.
His bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh inning against Mariner tied the game at three, which was how the game ended which was called for darkness.
He then picked up his first varsity hit against Burlington-Edison in an 8-2 loss.
He had another hit at Sedro-Woolley, but at that time, the Red Raiders were struggling with a 2-6 record.
A pair of non-league games at home against a few Canadian opponents helped turn things around as Bellingham won both contests. Against Kelowna, Edwards had a double and two runs batted in.
They then dropped a pair against Anacortes, but his game-winning run batted in against Stanwood at home gave Bellingham a 7-6 victory.
He followed that up with a another RBI and a pair of hits on the road against Stanwood.
He hit another double in a two-hit effort at home against Mount Vernon, and he also had an RBI single in the final game of the season at Ferndale in an 11-5 win.
He finished the season with 11 hits, two doubles and six runs batted in for the 7-11 Red Raiders.
1994 Season
As a senior, he put up eerily similar numbers.
He started out strong by stroking a pair of doubles on the road against Edmonds-Woodway in an 8-4 loss.
He then knocked in a pair of runs on the road against Burlington-Edison, but lost that one as well, 13-5, despite being ranked ninth in the state.
Four straight league losses brought the Red Raiders back down to Earth, as they began to play .500 ball the rest of the season.
Edwards picked up two hits and two runs batted in at Ferndale in a 6-3 loss.
He had another run-scoring single at Stanwood, and then closed the season with an RBI double at Mount Vernon.
He finished the season against with 11 hits, this time with three doubles and six runs batted in. Bellingham finished 10-10 and just missed out in playing in the playoffs.
Baseball Career
A two-year starter, Edwards was known as a gap hitter from the left side of the plate. In his career, he totaled 22 hits, five doubles and 12 runs batted in.
