WHS, ND hope to bounce back in Week 8

Todd Lancaster, Washington Times-Herald, Ind.
·4 min read

Oct. 5—Both North Daviess and Washington suffered losses last weekend, with ND falling 35-14 to a very good North Decatur team, while WHS was blanked by Heritage Hills, 77-0.

This week both schools are at home with WHS playing Boonville on Friday and ND hosting North Knox on Saturday.

Boonville at WHS

It will be Senior Night for the 2-5 Hatchets as they face 5-2 Boonville. The Pioneer losses have come to Southridge and Linton, while they have impressive wins over Heritage Hills and Mt. Vernon, while beating Princeton 53-0 last week.

Darin Ward is 45-33 in 8th year at school, 115-63 in 17th year overall, with previous stops at Corydon Central and Charlestown. He was 11-1 at Boonville in 2018. Boonville has dominated the series 32-4 over the last 35 years and they are currently ranked 22nd in 4A. Boonville blanked the Hatchets 54-0 last year. WHS's last win over Boonville came in 2010.

Boonville is led by Reece Wilder, who has eight TDs and rushes for 99 yards a game. While quarterback Clay Conner is getting 67 yards and also has eight TDs.

Cooper Aginer and Marques Ballard are the two leading receivers for Conner. The defenses is led by Carter Wolfe a senior linebacker getting almost 13 tackles a game.

WHS was limited to just 52 yards of offense last week, Heritage Hills outgained Washington 319-52, with the Hatchets picking up only 24 yards on the ground on 17 attempts.

"We are back to playing 'big boy' football and we know you can't make the mistakes we have made and put ourselves in hole like last week. There are a lot of areas we have to get better, special teams, scoring more, eliminate big plays and being disciplined," said WHS coach Joe Morris.

"We have to reboot from last week, it is Senior Night and we have to start getting ready for the playoffs. We know Boonville is a very good team, very well coached, but that is what this conference is about and those are teams in this conference. Our goals are to be competitive and be one of those teams."

The Hatchets take on Mount Vernon in Week 9 on the road to finish out the regular season. The sectional draw will be Sunday.

North Knox v. North Daviess

The Cougars have lost two-in-a-row to some quality opponents. This week the 4-3 Cougs take on 3-4 North Knox after falling to North Decatur.

"We were down 21-0 after just 15 plays, but I feel like after that, we played pretty good football," said ND coach Trent Fine. "Again, I thought our defense played pretty well."

The Warriors have been up and down, losing to quality opponents like Boonville and Linton, but winning game over Pike, North Central and Eastern. They are giving up 21.3 points and scoring 21.1.

Under coach Josh Chambers NK has not lost to ND and the winning streak goes back to 2014. If either team wins in this game, it will decide the Southwest title.

The Warriors do most of their damage on the ground, with Caleb Bottums getting 144 yards a game and Carter Lemberg at 103 and a combined 15 rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Mason Lyons has also rushed for three scores, but only completes 33% of his passes. Kaleb Archer leads the defense with 11 tackles from his linebacker spot.

"Both Bottums and Lemberg are pretty good, but our defense plays well against team where you know where the ball is going. Lyons is more of a facilitator, but ne is very effective," said Fine.

"We can end the year at 6-3 as we have two winnable games in front of us. However, if we don't play well we could lose both."

ND continues to be led by Austin Webster with 71 yards receiving and Coltyn McNabb with 71 yards a game on the ground. The pair has combined for 14 touchdowns. Matt Wagler and Andrew Boyd have also been effective receivers for quarterback Brock Knepp. Corey Andrews and Elliot Park are combing for 13 tackles a game.

The game will begin at 1 p.m. in Cougar Valley, while ND travels to Springs Valley in Week 9.