LINDEN -— After coming away with a thrilling 6-0 double overtime win last Friday night against Yorktown, North Montgomery will have its eyes set on advancing to the sectional championship game. In order to do that however they will have to go through the No. 2 team in 3A as the Chargers will host Brebeuf (8-2) this evening. Brebeuf knocked off No. 1 West Lafayette last Friday 24-14.
The tough test is nothing knew for the Chargers (4-4) who have to go through the gauntlet that is the upper half of the Sagamore Conference. North Montgomery coach Josh Thompson preaches to his team that this time of the year, their opponent are trying to take their pads away from them for good and the Chargers will look to prevent that from happening when they hit the field tonight.
“We’re using our game against Danville to help us prepare for Brebeuf,” Thompson said. “In that game we played Danville pretty well. We know that we will have put some points on the board and I think our guys are up to that and we’ve made strides in that area this week.”
What has carried the Chargers throughout these last three weeks of the season has been the strong play of their defense. North Montgomery has given up just 22 combined points the last three weeks.
“They’ve improved all season long and are really starting to buy into what we’re trying to do on that side of the ball,” Thompson said of his defense. “They believe in themselves no matter the opponent and that will have to continue this week against another good team.”
Brebeuf is led out by junior quarterback Nolan Buckman who has thrown for 2058 yards on the season to go along with 27 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Clark Sweet (79 carries) and Jack Maiers (55 carries) lead the ground game for the Braves who average right around 100 yards on the ground per game. Buckman has two elite pass catchers to throw the ball to in senior Max Walters who has caught 60 passe for 990 yards and 12 touchdowns on the season. Fellow Senior Anthony Annee has hauled in 50 passes for 779 and 14 scores on the year.
“They’re a good football team,” Thompson said. “They have some great players on both sides of the football. We just have to be ready to show up and be ready from the get go. We’ve played some good football the last two weeks and are hoping to sustain that momentum.”
The forecast on Friday night calls for rain to be prominent once again. That’s nothing new to the Chargers who have dealt with the wet and cold conditions the last two weeks.
“I would say the weather plays to our advantage,” Thompson said. “We’re used to playing on our grass field and I don’t know how many times they’ve played on a grass field themselves. We’re not going to turn anything away now that it’s tournament time.”
The winner between the Chargers and the Braves will take on the winner of Western Boone and Guerin Catholic next Friday night for the Sectional Championship.
