The final week of the regular season is officially here as Week 9 of Friday night lights will take place on Friday. 5-3 (4-2 SAC) North Montgomery will be at home and welcome the 6-2 (5-1 SAC) Danville Warriors to Charger field. There’s plenty of things on the line for the Chargers on Friday against the Warriors, who they defeated in a low-scoring defensive battle a year ago 8-6. A Charger win would guarantee a tie for second place in the Sagamore Conference for the Chargers. North hasn’t finished that high in the SAC since 2013.
North handled Frankfort a week ago 36-6 while Danville also handled Western Boone last week 21-7. While the Chargers know the big implications surrounding the regular season finale, coach Josh Thompson is continuing to make sure his team stays focused on the task at hand.
“We’ve talked to our kids about how this whole season and what we want to accomplish is a process,” Thompson said. “If we focus on the process then the outcomes will take care of themselves. They know that this game is an important one for us for many different reasons. We want to finish the regular season well, it’s a home game, and conference standings are on the line. We’re still focusing on the things that we need to do in order to be successful and achieve the outcome that we want.”
Danville has been led out for most of the season by back up freshman QB Carter Ward. In five games as the starter, Ward has thrown for 667 yards on 47-84 (56%). He has 11 TD’s and just two interceptions. On the ground the Warriors use a two-headed attack of sophomore Ethan Wooten (82 carries 419 yards) and senior Sean Robinson (73 for 404). Through the air for the Warriors they have the luxury of having big physical wide-outs. Caden Collins stands 6’2 and has just 15 catches but is the Warriors leading receiver with 324 yards and five TD’s. Jace Scraften is 6’5 and has hauled in 25 passes for 313 yards and five scores. Teke Tanksley rounds out the trio as he leads the team with 26 catches for 306 yards.
“Danville is always a physical team and you know going in, you’re going to have to match that level of physicality,” Thompson said. “We can’t back down from anything and have to put a complete game together in order to win. Offensively we have to finish drives in the end zone and defensively we can’t allow that offense to get big plays. In games like this too it often comes down to who wins the turnover battle as well.”
In what is always a tough Sagamore Conference, if the Chargers are able to finish tied for second would be a big accomplishment and one that Thompson says his kids should be proud of.
“If we’re able to come out on top and do finish second, the kids should be proud of what they accomplished during the regular season,” he said. “It’d also give us that momentum boost that we need to head into the post-season next week. It’d be a huge testament to all of the hard work that these kids have put in this year when they see success on Friday night.”
You can catch a live broadcast of the game on WCDQ 106.3 beginning at 6:30 as Bob Cox and Kevin Kirsch will have the call as the Chargers look to end the regular season a high note.
