Southmont is off to a dominating start in 2022 and Friday the Mounties will look to check off one of their goals for the season. That goal would be a county title as they make the short trip to battle county rival Crawfordsville. Southmont is looking for a 5-0 start for the second straight season while the Athenians are looking to pull off what most people would consider an upset over their county rival.
CHS has dropped their last two games and sits at 2-2 (0-2 SAC) under first-year coach Brad Clark. The Mounties have gotten it done on both sides of the ball so far this season as they’re averaging nearly 43 points per game while holding their opponents to just 13. Southmont coach Desson Hannum knows the excitement that surrounds this game and his team on Friday night.
“It’s going to be a big night,” he said. “It’ll be their (CHS) homecoming and we’re coming in looking for another 5-0 start and a chance to win the county title. To win a county title would mean a lot to us to our fans and to our school. We just have to stay focused and go out and put on the best performance that we can.”
The last two weeks have seen the Athenians take on two of the toughest teams in the Sagamore Conference in Danville and Western Boone. Taking on those teams has taught Clark and the Athenians a lot about where they stand as a program and how to stare adversity in the face as they take on their county rival.
“It’s easy when things are going well, but you learn a lot when you’re faced with adversity,” he said. “We talk about that with our guys in not only football but also in life. We obviously haven’t played as well as I would have liked the last two weeks, but those two teams are some of the best in the state. We recognize the challenge that lies ahead, but we’re willing to take the necessary steps in order to get there.”
The Mounties will look to contain Crawfordsville’s offensive weapons on the outside in wide-outs Ethan McLemore and Kaiden Underwood. Senior Quarterback AJ Hall will look their way early and often as they’re both capable of creating a big play.
“Each of those guys can go up and make a play and get them on the board in a hurry,” Hannum said. “We’ll have to be ready to play on the perimeter against them because they can give you fits. Crawfordsville also seems like they’re playing with some confidence and their kids are excited to play. That will be amplified in a county atmosphere for sure. Lastly they have some guys with some experience and that will play a factor in this game for sure.”
Crawfordsville will look to contain the Mounties ground game which has been their bread and butter all season long. Junior Wyatt Woodall is the third leading rusher in the SAC with 330 yards and six end zone trips. Carson Chadd averages right at eight yards a carry and is a threat when he gets in space.
Senior signal caller Nick Scott throws for right around 100 yards per game and has only thrown a single interception in 45 attempts.
“South is a very diverse offense and are extremely difficult to prepare for. They have an elite running game, but have some receivers who can hurt you as well. Scott can hurt you if you concentrate too much in the run game so we’ll have to concentrate on stopping both if we want to slow them down. Defensively they have a ton of speed. We know that we have to put up some points if we want to stay in the game and that’s what we expect to do.”
Southmont is in search of its first county title since the 2017 season while CHS will be looking for their first win over the Mounties since 2016.
You can catch a live broadcast of the game on True Country 106.3 WCDQ with Billy R and Jared McMurry beginning at 6:30.
