Jacksonville, Florida-Edward Waters was looking to put quite an impressive bow on a memorable and program changing 2023 regular season on Saturday night as they hosted the visiting Dragons of the Virginia University of Lynchburg at the Nathaniel Glover Community Field & Stadium. The Purple & Orange were able to dominate, en route to a 41-17 victory, clinching the program's first winning season of football since 2004, when the Tigers finished that year 8-3.

Edward Waters (6-4, 5-3 SIAC) had to overcome slow start to the matchup as the visiting VUL Dragons converted a 3rd & 8 on their opening drive to a 53-yard passing touchdown, giving them an early 7-0 lead. EWU quickly went to work on their opening drive as the offense went on a 10 play, 78 yard drive that culminated with a seven yard touchdown from Jyron Russell to Johnny Jones to knot things up at 7-7. The Dragons hit the scoreboard again on their ensuing possession, scoring on a 21-yard field goal to retake the lead at 10-7 with 5:30 remaining in the quarter. Edward Waters responded quickly once again as Russell found Jones on a 64-yard touchdown pass to give EWU their first lead of the contest at 13-10.

Midway through the second quarter, VUL hit the endzone for the second time in the contest with a 5-yard TD pass to recapture the lead at 17-13 with 4:24 remaining until halftime. Just before both teams went into the locker room, DeShaun Hugee scored on a 21-yard rushing touchdown to take a 20-17 advantage at the half.

During halftime, 15 seniors and graduate students (Jyron Russell, DeShaun Hugee, Eric Hoff, Jr., Arsiah McCorker, Yanez Rogers, Jr., Donnie Wilburn, James Gary, Shamar Dixon, Jonathan Gregory, C. J. Maybin, Ahmaud Jordan, Dadrion James, Roy Colum, III, Jaren Wilson, & Quintorio Powell) were honored as they participated in their final home contest of their collegiate careers.

Coming out of the break, Edward Waters dominated both offensively and defensively. Deven Thompson was found on the opposite end of a Russell pass from 32 yards out to add to the Tiger advantage at 27-17 with 6:56 remaining in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, DeShaun Hugee capped off his Edward Waters career with two more rushing touchdowns of 37 and 24 yards respectively to put the contest out of reach and give EWU their sixth victory of the season, the most since 2004.

After giving up 17 points in the first half, the Edward Waters defense turned up the intensity, pitching a second half shutout as well as forcing four VUL turnovers to aid the Tiger efforts. The Tigers finished the regular season finale with 487 yards of total offense with 307 passing and 180 yards on the ground. The visitors had 206 yards of offense (206 passing, 19 rushing). In his final contest in Purple & Orange, Russell finished 16-31 passing for 307 yards and three touchdowns, finishing his remarkable season with 2,768 yards passing and an SIAC leading 24 passing touchdowns. DeShaun Hugee left a memorable mark in his final home contest with a game and career high 30 carries for 152 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Johnny Jones led all receivers with seven catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns .

Defensively, Jaren Wilson also left an impressive mark on his final home contest with a game high seven tackles, including two sacks, and two forced fumbles, while DeAngelo Sapp had six tackles for EWU. D. J. Roberts and Dartrell Rolle each recorded second half interceptions, while fellow senior Da'Drion James and Jacorie Foster had fumble recoveries for the Tigers.

The victory for Edward Waters also makes them eligible for an opportunity selected to appear in their first postseason appearance as they look to represent the SIAC in the new Florida Beach Bowl on December 13th in Fort Lauderdale against a member of the CIAA.

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