By Todd Lancaster, Sports Editor
Both the Washington Hatchets and North Daviess Cougars took full advantage of their opening week of sectional with wins that keep them alive in tournament play.
Washington 5-5
The Hatchets won their first sectional game since 1992 with a 30-15 victory over Sullivan last Friday.
“This was our first sectional win since the early 90s and we feel like we made a huge statement,” said WHS coach Kelly Brashear.
“Sullivan was much more physical than people may have thought and they played their best football in the last three games. We thought we could ‘out-physical’ them and we did.”
The Hatchets amassed 304 yards of offense, as Brandon Clymer had 115 yard and Jeremy Hawthorne added 100 from the backfield.
However, the Hatchets did suffer one serious loss in the game as Zach Bullock tore his ACL/MCL and will be gone for the rest of the season and may also miss the wrestling season.
“We are going to miss him, but Justin Himsel did a nice job stepping in during the second half and is slated to start this week,” added Brashear.
This week the Hatchets travel to Enlow field to face off with Evansville Memorial. The Tigers moved to 2-8 with a win over Princeton, 55-6 in the opening round of sectional play and now face WHS on their home turf.
Memorial’s record may be deceiving, as the only 3A school on their schedule was powerhouse Mater Dei and the other win came over 4A Bosse. Other than Princeton and Mater Dei, everyone else has been a 4A or 5A school.
The Tigers have run the spread offense for the last few years, something the Hatchets have not seen a lot of. However, with so many teams in Evansville using the passing attack, Memorial may not be used to Washington’s more smash-mouth style.
“I think you may see us use our goal-line package in the middle of the field. We may just line up with a pair of tight ends and a wishbone and go right at them. We really want to keep our defense off the field.
“Defensively, their base package is a 4-3 with a cover 2 or 3 and I feel like we can match up.”
The Hatchets have not seen a lot of passing attacks like Memorials, but Brashear feels his best pass coverage may come in the form of a good pass rush. We need to keep the defensive ends going from the outside in and our tackles and nose tackles from the inside out,” added Brashear.
“They tend to be a very tall and athletic offense. Andrew Obaseki matches up well and we may move him to a corner and let him cover man-to-man while putting Cody Lee back at safety to help out.
North Daviess (3-6)
The Cougars face a familiar foe in Springs Valley, as North Daviess was defeated in French Lick 45-16 two weeks ago.
Last Friday, the Cougars needed an overtime, but beat Tecumseh 14-8 on the road, while the Blackhawks were involved in a low-scoring affair of their own, beating West Washington, 9-6.
“We really won last week in spite of ourselves,” said ND coach Scott Helms.
“We dominated the game on offense and defense, but the mistakes... Maybe this is just an example of things starting to go our way.
“Valley will be tough, hard hitting and aggressive,” said Helms.
“I think the game that we played two weeks ago may have been the only game of the year where we haven’t been competitive.”
Helms does not believe the upcoming game will have the look or feel of that loss.
“Our kids are going to play outstanding and I think Valley will have trouble trying to match it,” said Helms.
And as for the seven turnovers against Tecumseh, Helms was sure that will change as well.
“We will not make as many turnovers. The only thing I want to say about that is some of those turnovers may have been the result of our kids trying too hard and maybe pushing things, like trying for one more yard before turning the ball over.”
Helms continues to have a lot of praise for his defense.
“Our defense was just outstanding. Jon Wood had a career day on both sides of the ball and Mitch Wier had a great game,” said Helms. “Wes Potts had 18 solo tackles, which puts him just 15 off the single-season record. He actually has played one less game this year because of the cancellation.”
Helms also had praise for Ty Sipes, who he jokingly calls “Mr. Excitement.”
“You forget about him and then he does something that just knocks your socks off,” said Helms.
“His interception, right after we were intercepted deep in our territory, may have been the biggest play of the game.”
