South Football has advanced into regionals, scheduled to play at Castle High School on November 11th.
For a team that didn’t seem set up for success at the beginning of the season after losing many talented seniors, South Football has proven they’re more rugged than they may appear. Quarterback Jarrin Alley believes the key to the team’s success this season has been their chemistry and bond.
“We all play together really well. Offense, defense, special teams, it’s all just one team,” said Alley.
Battle at Castle
The Panthers will face the Knights, who beat Evansville North 28-18 most recently, thanks to some of the stand out players on their roster. Their Quarterback Brayden Bishop led the Knights through the nail biting game, and lineman John Purdy who averages 15 tackles per game helped in Castle’s success. Alley agrees that playing Castle will mean South is playing a very comparable team skill wise.
“Their defense and offense is really good, they’re really well coached, and they execute really well,” said Alley.
But South is a strong and resilient team, proving their toughness in the Sectional Championship against Bloomington North. Starting running back Gavin Adams was injured only minutes into the game, and was unable to come back onto the field. But the Panthers didn’t lose momentum, Ben Morrison (RB) seamlessly stepped in as the running back for the remainder of the game. The Panthers must use their grit to outplay and outlast the Knights, who will have a home field advantage.
Castle is 7-4, which is not quite as impressive as the Panther’s 9-1, but still notable since most of their losses were close games. A challenge may appear for South in their ability to play without running back Adams. Outside Linebacker Ben Godar feels confident that practice has prepared the team for Friday night.
“Gavin going out and adapting to that on our offense will be our biggest challenge, we’ve been training other people at running back to adjust” says Godar.
The determining factors of the game will be who’s defense and special teams plays better. If South’s special teams is able to get the Knights to the 20 yard line in returns, they will have long drives and that will give South a leg up.
“As long as we play like us, we’ll be good,” said Alley.
Tickets for the game are $10 and available in the athletic office or at the game. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. eastern time.
