Biggest small-school game in state?
LAKEVILLE - North Judson at Laville may be the top game in the state this week for small schools. Both come in with matching records (7-0, 5-0 HNAC) and each is ranked No. 3 in their respective classes (Laville 2A, North Judson 1A). The winner takes a firm grip on the Hoosier North Athletic Conference title and will solidify its spot amongst the top teams in the state as the postseason nears.
Last week LV had what has turned out to be a typical Lancer game - scoring 42 points (average 44.6 ppg) while allowing just 6 (7.7 ppg average) in its win over regional rival Glenn.
“That’s a good rivalry and any time you can win on your home turf, that’s a nice victory,” said Laville head coach Will Hostrawser. “Our coaching staff had a good game plan both offensively and defensively. We had a great week of practice and our kids went out and executed like we expected them to. Glenn has good speed and a good passing game that can stretch the field vertically, as well as horizontally. We did a good job of containing that. I thought the pursuit angles of our interior box on defense was going to be important and I thought our kids did really well in that area, getting to the ball in a bad mood, especially the big guys. We had a lot of good gang tackles. You can still find things on film that you need to improve on for the next week though.”
Besides identical records, North Judson’s scoring averages look very much like LV’S - 46.7 ppg on offense, 7.4 ppg on defense. The Bluejays went for 62 points for the second time this season in last week’s win over a strong Triton team.
“North Judson has that tradition and we’re trying to develop that and the consistency that they’ve had in the past,” continued Hostrawser. “They run the wishbone and it can be hard to defend when it is run right and these guys have proven that for seven weeks in a row now.
I’m looking forward to a great ballgame. It should be a great, physical four quarters of football by two teams that are going to lay it all out on the line.
“This is a great game to get prepared for the state tournament. The atmosphere is going to be electric. We want to take advantage of the opportunity this game presents us. This will be a big step for either team coming away with a win. I know which one I’m going to be pulling for. We have to manage our emotions. This is one of those games that you get so high for it emotionally that you can actually drain yourself and that can be detrimental by the fourth quarter.”
Last year’s game needed overtime to decide a winner (NJ, 10-9). The year before that it was 9-7, also in Judson’s favor. Four out of the five games before that though, LV blanked the Bluejays. So is another low-scoring affair in store? Could be. Or maybe it’s a shootout with both showing those explosive offenses.
This game is the WHMETV Game of the Week and will be televised at 11 p.m. Friday night, then again Saturday morning starting at 9 a.m.