Southmont football has reached the end of the gauntlet. Friday the 4-4 (2-4 SAC) Mounties will welcome arguably the biggest test they’ve seen all season in the No. 5 ranked 7-1 (6-0 SAC) Tri-West Bruins. The Bruins come into the game with a chance to secure the outright SAC title with a win. The Mounties on the other hand are wanting some positive momentum heading into the post-season. South lost to Lebanon 41-28 a week ago while the Bruins handled fellow Montgomery County foe Crawfordsville 41-0.
It will also be senior night for the Mounties as they’ll honor their seniors prior to the start of the game. While the task at hand will be tough, South coach Desson Hannum knows his team is up to the task of competing with a the high powered Bruins.
“Tri-West is a very good team and their ranking in 3A is no joke,” Hannum said. “They have some experience really in all areas and play some really tough physical football. We know it’ll be a tall task on Friday but I think we have a team that can compete with them. Being able to run the football and pick up first downs to keep them off the field. We want to be a very efficient on that side of the ball to be able to help our defense out.”
A big statistical note entering the game vs the Bruins. Senior fullback and linebacker Wyatt Woodall just a week after becoming the fifth player in county history to run for 3,000 career yards, is just nine tackles away from breaking the school record for career tackles. Woodall sits at 371 career tackles and already has 106 on the season. On the year Woodall has rushed 859 yards this season and 16 TD’s. Senior QB Nolan Boyer went over 1,000 yards a week ago and sits at 1,052 yards to go along with 425 yards on the ground. Kyler McCandless is the leading receiver for the Mounties with 506 yards on the season.
For the Bruins they’re led by do-it-all junior QB Malachi Walden. On the year Walden is 88-156 (56%) for 971 yards through the air with 12 TD’s and six interceptions. He’s just as dynamic with his legs as he carried the ball 118 times for 958 yards and 10 more scores.
“He’s definitely the bell cow for them,” Hannum said of Walden. “You can see when the game gets close they just let him go out there and make plays. He’s been up to the task all season and is a very physical runner. He along with that o-line are very physical and tough to stop but we’re going to have to be ready for it.”
Hannum also noted the team will get to honor its seniors before the game as they play their last regular season game in front of their home fans.
“It’s hard to believe that we’re already at the last regular season game and we’re celebrating these guys already,” he said. “We talked about it throughout the week that Friday is going to be a celebration not only for those players but their families. This senior group means a lot because they’ve won a ton of games and made a ton of plays for us and have been a very significant part of what we’ve accomplished over the last four years.”
