Every once in a while during this football season, one of Eden's players would tell their

new coach something about last year.

Well, they would try to tell him.

"Coach, they did this to us last year," one would say.

"Shut up — we're an expansion team," coach Chuck Tilley would respond. "This is brand

new. This is what we're doing."

And almost just like that, in a perfect match of one who delivers discipline and those who

sought it, Eden won football games. The Raiders have burrowed through teams with a double-wing

offense and stifled their opponents with a dominant defense, resulting in a 9-0 record, a No.

3 ranking in the The News' small school poll and a berth in Saturday's Class C championship

game at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Eden and its 18 seniors have gone unbeaten after going 2-15 over the last two seasons

— another thing that wasn't exactly discussed much.

"We never talked about it," said Tilley, a 13th-year coach in his first season at Eden. "I

told them you're a good football team, we're going to win this year and forget about

everything else."

What these Raiders remember is discipline.

"Every single day we hear it," said senior lineman Troy Bigelow. "It's discipline. Hard

work. That's what it comes down to. Our discipline translates to our defense — scoring

is not allowed."

Talk like that might sound a little undisciplined, but it's true. Eden has allowed only 18

points all season, with just six of those having been scored on the first-team defense.

Other teams haven't been able to score, and they haven't been able to figure out which

player coming out of the tightly bunched formation has the ball.

"The offense is very difficult to defend," said Eden athletic director and former coach

Doug Beetow, who coached against Tilley's Tonawanda teams. "You're tackling everyone and

hopefully you get the guy with the ball, and as our season has shown, not a lot of people have

been able to do that."

The reason? That D-word again.

"During plays we run, if everyone does their job, the play goes perfect," said senior

fullback/defensive end Alex Violanti. "We're not about big plays, it's like 5 yards a carry.

But if everyone does their job, we make it happen.

"[Tilley] is making a huge difference for the program. He's all about discipline, being

very punctual."

"That's the foundation for everything," Tilley said. "The foundation for everything is

discipline. Disciplined football teams don't beat themselves."

But it doesn't work unless the disciplinarian has a roster full of good disciples.

"It's nice that I get to work with a group of kids like this, real down-to-earth farm boy

kids," said Tilley. "They're not working at Dairy Queen, they're out unloading boxes and

throwing hay bales. ... They're tough kids, they come to work hard, they've always got a smile

on their face and are happy to do it. They never complain about working hard. They say,

"Coach, we're not conditioning enough.' I'm like, OK, we can do more."

The toughest assignment of Eden's season arrives at 3 p.m. Saturday at The Ralph as the

Raiders take on No. 1 small school Southwestern, the defending state champion and the

top-ranked Class C team in the state. Eden will do it without senior back Julian Bermingham,

who broke his leg in last week's 7-6 win over Cassadaga Valley.

"We know we're a good team and it's probably going to be the hardest game we play all

year," said senior guard/linebacker Jeremiah Gechell. "Just because they're Southwestern and

defending state champs, we're not letting up."

Big weekend

The top Monsignor Martin matchup has St. Joe's (5-4) hosting St. Francis (3-6) at 2 p.m.

Saturday in the League AA semifinals. The Marauders won at St. Francis, 12-7, on Oct. 9.

In the Harvard Cup, the final weekend of regular season games has Bennett, Grover

Cleveland, Lafayette, McKinley and South Park (all 3-4) battling for two playoff spots.