Early in the second quarter of his team's National District road game against Yorktown, Edison running back Mark Beach hobbled to the sideline, pain shooting through his hip.

With several other starters already out with injuries or illness it was not exactly an ideal time for the Eagles to lose their starting running back.

But Edison (3-1, 1-0) quickly proved that depth, while often in short supply for most teams in the National District, is something it has plenty of this season, at least in the backfield.

Junior running back Roy Coles took over for Beach, the area's fifth-leading rusher, and didn't miss a beat, churning out 167 yards on 16 carries with two touchdowns in Edison's 41-6 demolition of the Patriots.

``[Beach] hurt his hip in our last game against Marshall so I knew I was going to play a lot coming in," said Coles. ``I had to step in and do my job with him out, but I was real confident. I was ready to play. I knew I was going to have a big game."

Coles had touchdown runs of 20 and 62 yards, the latter coming on a fake reverse with just seconds remaining until halftime that effectively broke Yorktown's spirit. Moments earlier, the Patriots had finally gotten on the board with a touchdown run by Dustin McDonald to cut Edison's lead to 20-6 and appeared to be heading into halftime with some much-needed momentum.

``That play hurt them because it was right before halftime," Coles said. ``I rode it out good, had it on my hip, got the ball and turned the corner. Touchdown."

Coles wasn't the only Edison back that performed well. Darren Davis, a 5-foot-10, 215-pound junior, bruised his way for 94 yards on 14 carries and scored the Eagles' final touchdown. He also had a 43-yard run in the first half and caught a pass for 12 yards, as well.

``Darren Davis, he played hard, too, and he came up big in this game," Coles said. ``We knew our team needed us today. ... We had a lot of injuries. A bunch of players were sick this week and couldn't practice. We had to suck it up and go out and get this win."

The play of Coles and Davis is crucial because Beach's return is uncertain. He was cleared to play on Friday, but the injury flared up and forced him to leave. Edison head coach Vaughan Lewis said he isn't sure when Beach will be back.

``Roy and Darren did a great job for us," Lewis said. ``When Roy learns how to create his own hole, even when there's not one there, then he's going to be a great running back for us. He's strong, he's fast. Right now he just kind of hesitates a little bit, but once he learns not to do that he's going to be a great back."

Quarterback Marshall Wharam also played well for the Eagles, completing two of his three passes, including a beautifully thrown touchdown to wide receiver Thomas Ennis.

Edison's defense continued to excel, led by linebacker Tyrone Kyle's eight tackles. The unit even contributed some points to the Eagle cause when Derrick Burroughs fell onto a fumbled punt snap in the end zone, the second year in a row the senior has recovered a failed punt for a touchdown.

Most importantly, the win gives Edison the early advantage in the National District race and a key win against one of its main challengers. With so many players back from last season's team, which tied Yorktown for the district title before losing to Madison in the Northern Region, Division 5 semifinals, the Eagles believed winning a region title was a realistic goal before the season. They don't have any reason to believe otherwise at this point.

``This game kind of just shows us where we stand," Burroughs said. ``It shows us that nobody can stop us but ourselves. We needed to play well and we needed to show that we can step it up in the big games. And that's what we did."