Eastern Football has been on quite the uptake. After a history of mediocrity, the Joe Schwander-led Hawks have soared to the top of the rankings thanks to Schwander’s excellence. His success has propelled the team to 4 straight playoff berths, and he is zoning in on his 5th. The team, headed by the senior class, looks to continue the legacy and finally collect a state title for Forest Hills Eastern football. The chip will not be an easy acquisition for the Hawks; they face grueling out-of-conference play and even tougher opponents within. Despite the stiff competition, the Hawks currently sit at a 4-1 overall record and a 2-0 conference record. The team has put up 182 points and only allowed 71 through 5 games. The season isn’t halfway done yet, and greater things are certainly to come.
An enormous factor in the team’s success is the high-powered and elaborate offense that Eastern has grown known for. The offense currently averages a staggering 36.4 points a game while averaging 200 rushing yards and 165 passing yards. The offense has been able to do what it wants when it wants for most of the season. The team is helmed by quarterback and running back duo Brendan Thompson (‘25) and Max Ferrick (‘25). Brendan Thompson, missing his junior season for personal reasons, has come back to sling the football all over defenses these past 5 weeks. He completed 37 of 63 attempts for 653 yards and a 9-1 touchdown to interception ratio — stellar numbers to start the season. His re-addition to the team has provided many opportunities for the pass-and-run game. With an air-raid attack from Thompson, the run game flourishes and provides running back Max Ferrick with all the room he needs to be great. Ferrick was elected as a captain by his teammates for good reason, as he leads the team by example and puts up the numbers to prove it. Through 5 games, Ferrick has rushed for 534 yards, returned for 159 yards, and caught passes for 105 yards, scoring 9 times in total. The kid is a Swiss army knife. He can pass, block, run, return, and excel in all of it. When asked about his success, he modestly claims, “It’s a group effort, I have great teammates who want to win as badly as I do,”. He exemplifies everything a captain should and wills his team to decisive wins.
The offense is only a part of what makes Eastern football so great. The defense in 4 of 5 games has only let up a single score per game, with a season-average 14.2 points scored per game. Eastern boasts a stout defense that has only allowed 115 rushing yards per game and 94 passing yards. The defense also forced 5 fumbles, recovering them all, and a pick. Leaders of the squad include senior linebacker Noah Bartley and senior defensive lineman Edem Denno. Bartley has been on the team since his sophomore year, in which he miraculously made the team and even more surprisingly excelled in leading the team’s solo tackles with 27. He’s kept pushing his limits since then and has only grown as a player. Currently, he leads the team with 35 total tackles, including a TFL (tackle for loss) in the Week 5 game against Hamilton. Moving from standing up to a 3-point, Edem Denoo, a monstrous defensive tackle, wreaks havoc on opponent’s run games. He currently has collected 3 solo tackles, 4 assisted, and 6 TFLs with multiple sacks. He is an anchor of the defense, even as someone who has battled through injury troubles the first few games but has shown up when he’s needed most. Teammates look up to him as both a leader and role model. The entire front seven of the Eastern team are remarkable and strike fear into opponents.
Forest Hills Eastern hit a road bump in week 3 against Unity Christian, receiving their first loss of the season. While most teams would struggle coming back from a harrowing loss, Eastern football players picked themselves up and blew out the next team they played. That’s been the norm over the past few years of the program. Resilience. Being able to lose and not fall into emotions, but into a winning mindset with a focus on doing everything possible to become better. The team mottos include “NOW” and “Set The Tone.” Coach Schwander chose these due to the team’s hunger for success, not in a year, not at the end of the season, but NOW! Eastern football is rolling and will continue thanks to their constant desire to be the best. Be there to witness greatness.
