The Panthers are set to play cross town rival Bloomington North Cougars one final time this season, in a fight for the sectional championship title on Friday, November 4th. Previously in the season South beat North 45-7, but there’s no guarantee this Friday will be a repeat event.
One menacing athlete North has in their artillery is Cody Mikulich (RB). Mikulich suffered a knee injury and was just barely back on the field last time the Panthers and Cougars faced off. But now, Mikulich has fully healed and is back to dominating on the field. In North’s sectional game against Seymour, Mikulich scored four touchdowns and ran an impressive 209 yards.
However, the Panthers have the power to bite back. Senior Drew Chandler (NT) said, “The key component of who is going to win the game is who tackles better, we need to run fast and hit hard,”
South’s offense can hold their own against North’s defense, which was a major factor in South’s previous win against them. Junior Gavin Adams (RB) said, “North just switched up their defense, so they may be a little inexperienced.” “We’re going to prepare better this week than we did last week, [North’s] new defense is similar to ours so we can practice against them and get better from them.”
Success in the first round of sectionals
South football came out of the Friday, October 28th sectional game with a strong win against the Columbus East Olympians, beating them 35-7.
It wasn’t a smooth ride for the Panthers, contrary to the score. South’s offense struggled at times to make progress. But, Juniors Drew Crum-Hieftje (FS) and Lucas Waldon (WR) found holes to receive passes from Quarterback Zach David and both scored against the Olympians. “We didn’t have a lot of movement up front and we weren’t coming off the ball hard,” said Waldon.
Running Back Adams also had a strong game, rushing a total of 60 yards and scoring for the Panthers.
South’s defense held their own against the Olympians, allowing them to score only one touchdown. Chandler believed the defense’s success was thanks to “having a good week at practice, and being more aggressive than them.”
Tickets for the championship are $7 and available in the athletic office or at the game. Kickoff is at 7p.m. on November 4th at the Huff Memorial Field.
