By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – With a road of approval from the team gathered to watch the dramatic revealing of the IHSAA sectionals, Bedford North Lawrence was the first name drawn for the Class 4A Sectional 23 pairings. And it could end up on top.
The Stars (6-2) will visit Jennings County (2-6) for the opening game of the state tournament series on Oct. 24. That winner will face either Connersville (3-5) or Shelbyville (4-4) in the semifinal round.
On the bottom half of the eight-team bracket, Martinsville (3-5) will visit Greenwood (2-6), while Silver Creek (3-5) will face Charlestown (6-2) in the first round.
“I’m excited,” BNL coach Brayden Tidd said. “Like I’ve said all year, I will take this group into battle against anybody. I’m just ready to get the show on the road.”
The draw was close to the best-case scenario for the Stars. They already own a 63-0 home win over the Panthers on Sept. 26. In fact, according to the Sagarin power ratings, BNL is the favored team in the sectional. That sentence has not been written in a long time, since BNL won its only title in 2011.
There’s a lot of history (BNL has won only 14 postseason games since the start of the all-inclusive tournaments in 1985) to overcome on the way to a potential title.
“We want to show everyone that this is not another normal season,” Tidd said. “We want to create our own expectations – high expectations – and strive to beat those. Then set even higher goals. We’re trying to make history and do something BNL has never seen before.”
That will start with Jennings. The Stars dominated that regular-season meeting, coming close to breaking the school record for margin of victory, and they won for the 10th straight time in the series. Dayson Kirby threw for 263 yards and four touchdowns. Brody Horton scored three times, and the Stars forced three turnovers (including a fumble return for a score by Grady Dalton) while adding a punt-return touchdown by Driven Axsom. The second half was played with a running clock.
BNL will have to guard against overconfidence.
”It’s hard to beat a team twice, and they have a big-size target that’s right on our backs,” Tidd said. “They have us in their sights, as they should. That, in itself, will be tough. And we’re going to their place. We have to come in focused and ready to go.
“It’s keeping everything day by day, keeping the focus inside the locker room. Any time you let something outside get in the way, or outside expectations, it’s not good. Our expectations have always been day by day, then we worry about Friday. We don’t worry about potentially playing a team. Keep the main thing as the main thing.”
Charlestown already owns a 47-27 win over Silver Creek on Aug. 22. Martinsville is the defending sectional champion, and its battle with Greenwood is a rematch of last year’s sectional final.
BNL will close the regular season on Friday, visiting Columbus East.
