It’s been a rollercoaster season full of ups and downs for the Bloomington South football team, but nothing quite beats the excitement of Friday’s sectional final game against a familiar rival in the Martinsville Artesians.

After posting a 4-5 regular season record, it was hard to measure how good the Panther football team really was. While they did have dominant wins over unsuccessful teams like Bloomington North and Terre Haute North, they got shut down by powerhouses like Brownsburg and Bishop Chatard. Though they did receive a BYE in the first round of the 5A sectional, they had to play much improved schools in Whiteland and Martinsville.

“The [regular season] records didn’t mean anything to us once the postseason started,” junior defensive end Cody Root said. “We’re a young team and we’ve learned to play better as the season went on. Our game against Martinsville earlier this year was a good learning experience.”

The game started off poorly for the South defense, allowing 14 points on the first two Martinsville possessions. South did fight back; however, a missed extra point and a failed two point conversion left the panthers trailing at the half. Trailing three points with 3:14 left to go in the game, senior kicker Carson Adams made a field goal to send the game to overtime.

Then, the game got interesting. Martinsville kicker Caleb Urban misses a chip shot field goal, allowing South to win with any type of score. After failing to score a touchdown, Adams shanked the game winning field goal. Martinsville made a field goal, forcing South to score to stay alive in double overtime. After two busted plays, senior quarterback Trent Richardson threw a lob into double coverage, and junior wide receiver Jordan Meeks jumped over the top of the defenders to make the game winning catch and send South to regionals.

“I just locked in. There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to catch the ball,”  Meeks said when asked about his game winning score.

After winning their fifth straight sectional championship, South will make the trip to Indianapolis to take on Decatur Central this Friday at 7 p.m.

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