Southport Cardinals (4-1) at Bloomington South Panthers (3-2)
When: Friday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m.
Where: Fred Huff Field
Last Meeting: 28-35 L (2018)
After a much needed 44-0 victory over Terre Haute South, the Panthers will be back in Bloomington this week to take on Conference Indiana foe Southport. The last two South-Southport meetings have been good ones, each having been decided by just one score.
Offense: Any quarterback controversy that existed last week is now gone. Junior D.J. Bull put on a show last week throwing for 250 yards and scoring four total touchdowns in his first start as the varsity signal caller. Bull appears to be Coach Mo Moriarity’s guy for the next two years, and he’ll look to replicate last week’s efficient performance this week against Southport. The Panther offense was clutch on third down last week, converting 22-26 of third down attempts to keep the chains moving. It appears Bull has already found his favorite target in junior wideout Jordan Meeks, who hauled in seven catches for 88 yards and two scores on Friday. While the passing game was good, the running game was pretty average and vanilla. Look for the South coaching staff to get more creative with the offensive play calling as Bull becomes more comfortable in his second start. South will face a much more difficult challenge this week against a much better 6A Cardinal defense. Although Southport lost some key defenders, they return a great defensive back to their 3-3-5 defense in senior Jordan Tweedy.
Defense: The Panther defense will look to continue off their stellar performance in which they forced three fumbles, intercepted a pass, and forced a safety. Along with the turnovers, the unit allowed 3.5 yards per carry and only 85 yards passing. Senior linebacker Ethan Hensley continues to make plays, forcing two of the three forced fumbles as well as pinning two punts inside the five yard line last week. Southport’s offense has made a full 180 from last season’s pass heavy offense, formerly led by now Ball State quarterback Eddie Schott. Because of Schott’s departure, there is a void at quarterback which has led Southport’s offense to favor the run. Leading the backfield is senior LaMarco Yates and junior Gage Nelson. Senior Ryan Lezon is also heavily featured in the Cardinal offense and is the biggest threat to opposing defenses. New addition Brevin Jefferson is the number one target in the passing game and has shown flashes of greatness in his first season playing football.
Overview: The schedule gets harder from this point on for South. If they can build off this momentum and be more consistent offensively, this team can finish out the season strong. Prediction: BHSS-27 SHS-24
Keys to the game:
- Remain stout in the run game defensively
- Force turnovers to help the offense
- Establish a more productive running game
