The season has come full circle for the Brownstown Central football team.
Back in June, the Braves opened their 2015 campaign by scrimmaging with Southridge at Franklin College in a team camp.
Tomorrow, the Braves (9-2) will host the Raiders (8-3) in the Sectional 31 championship game.
“We are familiar with them since we played with them at team camp,” Braves coach Reed May said. “We were able to scrimmage them a little bit. However, that was in June.”
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The Raiders come to Blevins Stadium with a 28-21 win against North Harrison and 44-12 victory against Corydon in the postseason.
Braves coach Reed May said that the Raiders run a different version of Brownstown’s offense.
“They’re very similar to us; they run a different version of the wing-T offense,” May said. “When you play against a team running the wing-T you need to have responsibilities. The defense has to play their assignment. The hard thing will be that since they also run the wing-T, they will know how to defend us.
“Both teams have run it for a few years. It helps because when we’re running a play in practice they know how to go up against it, but I’m sure its the same with their kids.”
Against Corydon, the Raiders utilized seven different rushers, including senior quarterback Gaage Fetter, who went 3 for 6 passing with two touchdowns and 110 yards.
On the season, the Raiders are averaging 302 rushing yards per game.
The rushing attack is led by junior Nolan O’Brien’s 920 yards on 94 tries and senior Mitchell Mundy’s 907 on 122 attempts.
Through 11 games, the Raiders have run the ball with 13 different backs and receivers.
“They have a bunch of good high school football players,” May said. “Their tight end is 6-foot-4, 253 pounds and is a big kid. They have some kids backs like we do. They’re just very well-coached. They’re a mirror image of us with their with weightlifting, starting young and playing hard.”
With a competitive schedule, the Raiders have lost game to Jasper, Heritage Hills and Gibson Southern.
May said he’s not sure if it will be a high, or low, scoring game.
“I told the kids that it will probably be the best defensive plan against us,” May said. “Their defensive coordinator, Steve Winkler, has been there forever. He’s seen it all. He went to Bloomington High School a couple years before me. We just need to see if we can execute against it. If both defenses play well, it will probably be a low-scoring game.”
Last week, the Braves were able to down Mid-Southern Conference rivals Charlestown 44-19.
“Defensively, I thought we played outstanding,” May said. “On offense, I thought we moved the ball really well against them. It was a game that was a great win for our program, especially after last year — but the kids aren’t satisfied.”
Since their losses to North Harrison on Sept. 18 and Seymour on Sept. 25, the Braves have won five-straight games.
“North Harrison, they kind of brute-forced us and a couple kids got hurt,” May said. “I think Seymour was a wake-up call, and I think they are a lot better football team than most people thought. After (Seymour), I think that the kids said, ‘We better listen to the coaches.’ They’re now listening to our game plan. If they follow the game plan, we’ll be fine, and if we stray away from it we won’t.”
In his 23 years of coaching, the Braves have now advanced to 18 sectional championship games — with 10 titles to their name.
The Braves last defeated the Raiders in the 2008 regional to advance to semistate.
“We’ve played them three times now, and its all been in regionals,” May said. “This year, they finally came up to Class 3A after playing in 2A for a number of years. It’s nice to get a chance to play them.”
This past week, May has emphasized to his boys to enjoy the process.
“I told the guys on Monday that they don’t realize the opportunity that they have here,” May said. “I told them to enjoy it — enjoy the week. It’s what you’ve been working towards since the offseason. I think the older I get the more I realize you need to enjoy these weeks because they don’t come around all the time. I think it’s something, as a young coach, you don’t’ think about as much. We’re going to have fun this week and prepare for the game.”
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What: Southridge (8-3) at Brownstown Central (9-2), Sectional 31 championship
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Radio: 96.3-WJAA
Where: Blevins Memorial Stadium
Last outing: Brownstown Central def. Charlestown 44-19, Southrdige def. Corydon 44-12
Most recent meeting: Brownstown Central def. Southridge 26-6 on Nov. 14, 2008 (regional)
Series past 30 years: Brownstown Central 2-1
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The Brownstown Central High School varsity football coaches have announced awards for Friday’s 44-19 win over Charlestown
Earning honors are Gavin Bane, Offensive Back MVP; Clay Wilkerson, Offensive Line MVP; Jacob Brewer, Defensive Line/Inside Linebacker MVP; John McKinney, Defensive Back/Dime MVP; Kyle Kramer, Special Teams MVP; Bryce Hughes, Scout Team MVP; Brewer, Wilkerson, Cameron Eggersman, Tanner Bell, Justin Donnells, black jersey winners.
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