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St. Edmond head football coach Matt Dillon hopes an adage comes true for his team this week.
After falling to West Bend-Mallard last Thursday night, the Gaels welcome Glidden-Ralston to Dodger Stadium this Friday.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
"You want to see improvement week to week," Dillon said. "Hopefully, we can make some big strides here from Week 1 to Week 2."
That will not be easy for St. Edmond, which lost rising junior Coltin Fevold for the rest of the season to an injury late in the loss to the Wolverines. Fevold was having a breakout game, catching four passes for 81 yards and a touchdown while rushing in another score.
"It's a tough, tough blow," Dillon said. "You feel bad for Coltin and you feel bad for the team, but you have to find replacements. When somebody gets knocked out, who is going to step in and take their place? That's what we are trying to figure out right now."
Thomas Ehn, making his first start at quarterback, completed 21 of 43 for 276 yards with two touchdowns and a third score on the ground last week. He did have two interceptions, including one that was returned for a score as part of a 22-point fourth period by West Bend-Mallard to put the game away.
Senior Ty Mericle caught his first career TD pass, finishing with seven receptions for 55 yards. Classmate Griffin Laufersweiler tallied six receptions for 49 yards, and sophomore Blake Bartlett had two for 58.
The rushing attack was held in check for St. Edmond, as the Gaels finished with just 62 yards on 30 carries. Junior Matthew Crimmins and freshman Jack Stucky will handle duties at tailback and wingback with Fevold out.
"We did a few good things on offense, but not nearly enough," Dillon said. "And give West Bend-Mallard credit, because that is a very good football team who is going to give a lot of (opponents) fits moving forward."
St. Edmond also started the 2025 season off 0-1, falling on the road to Glidden-Ralston (0-0) after the Wildcats completed a last-second touchdown pass and scored the game-winning points on a two-point conversion, 22-20. The Gaels went on to reach the playoffs last year despite the early setback.
Glidden-Ralston is coming off a 2-6 season and returns quarterback Brody Hunt, who threw that game-winner and had the conversion. He finished his sophomore season 21 of 49 for 227 yards and a TD.
Colton Rohrbeck ran for 273 yards with six touchdowns as a sophomore, Hunt had 195 and two scores, and Henry Sturm added 123 yards on the ground while catching seven passes as a junior. Rohrbeck had six receptions for 56 yards.
Sturm and Rohrbeck are the leading tackles returning on defense for the Wildcats, who last had a winning season in 2023.
Sturm is one of just four seniors on a roster that includes four juniors, six sophomores and five freshmen.
"We've got that bonus of having a game under our belts compared to (Glidden-Ralston) playing for the first time," Dillon said. "We're going to go out there and give them everything we've got, and hopefully, it's enough."