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The Paper file photo
Southmont junior Jordan Burkett and the Mounties’ rushing attack has helped them win two straight games. |
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SOUTHMONT
(3-5, 2-4 SAC)
AT
CRAWFORDSVILLE
(4-4,. 4-2 SAC)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Radio: Thunder 103.9
Web Cast: Southmont HS
Last Meeting: Crawfordsville 35, Southmont 6 (Oct. 12, 2007)
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SOUTHMONT FOOTBALL: Mounties have high expectations
By John Groth
Sports Editor
NEW MARKET – Desson Hannum sees the difference.
For nearly half a decade, the Southmont High School football team hasn’t played with confidence.
But with two straight convincing wins over Sagamore Athletic Conference opponents, they finally have that edge and expectation to win coming into a county rivalry game.
Two years ago, Southmont upset county- and conference rival Crawfordsville in its final regular-season game to earn their first – and only – win that season.
But this year, the Mounties could finish off its regular season with an even bigger mental boost – a three-game winning streak and huge momentum heading into Indiana High School Athletic Association sectional play.
“It’s not always the bigger team or stronger team that wins. Usually, it’s the team willing to play all out,” Hannum said. “We’ve been able to do the last couple of weeks. Guys have given everything they had, made some things happen and made big plays. We can’t be intimidated when we go in there. We’ve gained confidence over last few weeks. [Before] at times, we had been unsure. Hopefully these last couple of wins have done a little bit to dispell that.”
Southmont (3-5, 2-4 SAC) travels to county- and conference rival Crawfordsville (4-4, 4-2 SAC) for a 7 p.m. game Friday. The Mounties have won two straight games – a feat they haven’t accomplished since 2003 – knocking off conference opponents Frankfort and Western Boone.
In its last two games, Southmont has rushed for more than 230 yards each time.
They’ve beaten teams with a solid ground attack featuring four different ballcarriers – junior running backs Jordan Burkett (36 carries, 234 yards, three TD’s) and Tanner Hill (60 carries, 325 yards, 2 TD’s), junior quarterback Logan Petry (90 carries, 282 yards, 5 TD’s) and sophomore running back Micah Hatch (101 carries, 343 yards, 4 TD’s).
The Mounties have rushed for seven touchdowns in their past two games, including three by Petry and two by Burkett.
“Our offense is starting to come around a little bit,” Hannum said. “We’ve made sure we’ve gotten the ball in the hands of our playmakers really well. We’ve done a good job of distributing carries and touches between them.”
But defensively, Southmont hasn’t had to face a team in its last two games with as potent a rushing attack as Crawfordsville’s.
Frankfort has redesigned its offense and isn’t running its patented Wing-T much anymore and Western Boone’s offense relies heavily on sophomore quarterback Jared Knox, although he’s just as much a rushing threat as he is passing.
Athenians’ junior running back Craig Fairley leads the county with 1,442 yards rushing – an average of just over 180 yards per game.
“Craig is a good back and he will challenge our defense this week,” Hannum said. “The big thing is we’ve got make sure we pursue to the ball correctly and take away his cutback lanes. If he has ability to cut back it makes it hard because if he’s able to make a cut and get downhill and have a lane to run, he’s very difficult to stop. He’s a pretty powerful runner and uses his speed and power. I think our defense will be up for the challenge.”
The Mounties have also stepped up with their defensive line play of late. Southmont recorded its first sacks of season last week against Western Boone, with Ryan Chism, Cody Jacquez and Cole Wills posting one each.
They’ll have to keep the pressure up against Crawfordsville and senior quarterback Brett McKinney.
“We’re playing more aggressive defensively, trying to make more things happen and not waiting back so much defensively,” Hannum said. “We’ve done a pretty good job stopping the run the last few games, making teams throw more than they would like.”
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