By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Sweet football dreams are made of this: a sectional championship. Everybody’s looking for one this week. Bedford North Lawrence dared to dream, now it’s on the brink of historic reality.
In the school’s trophy case, a lonely prize stands proud. BNL’s only football sectional title was earned in 2011. The Stars are poised to double that collection, if they can double down on a rare road victory that catapulted them into this unforgettable campaign. How sweet that would be.
BNL will battle for the Class 4A Sectional 23 crown when the Stars (8-3) return to Martinsville for a second round with the Artesians (5-6) on Friday night. BNL started its epic journey with a victory over this nemesis opponent in the season opener, recording only the second win at Martinsville in program history. Now the Stars could match that with a bookend triumph that would propel them into uncharted postseason territory.
Normally, at this point in the calendar year, BNL means basketball. The Stars have played only 10 November games since the current playoff system debuted in 1985. Not so fast. Darkness now comes early with the time change, but BNL is playing late, hoping to shed new light on a program that turned total regime change (with a new coaching staff) into a total transformation. How times have changed.
Will it be easy? Absolutely not. Is it possible? Absolutely. The Sagarin computer thinks so, and if Destiny has a favorite, she would certainly chose BNL as a reward for so many years of forgotten toil. But this will be decided on the turf.
“The kids understand the magnitude of the situation, how big of a step in the right direction this would be,” BNL first-year coach Brayden Tidd said. “The kids know how big it is, we’ve driven home that it’s only ever been done one time. I want to make sure they know that, and they’re ready to take care of business. They’ve been chomping at the bit for a while. They’re hungry and ready to go.”
BNL opened with a surprising 33-15 win at Martinsville on Aug. 22. Dayson Kirby, playing quarterback like a video game, threw for 356 yards and five touchdowns – just in the first half – during a performance that vaulted him into a year-long place among the state passing leaders.
That game, that outcome, stunned many. BNL caught Martinsville, the defending regional champion, by surprise with its new system. That element is gone.
“I don’t think they caught me by surprise. We knew they had talent,” Martinsville coach Brian Dugger said. “They may have caught our kids by surprise. Our kids didn’t prepare very well, they were sailing on yesterday’s wind a little bit. We were coming off a big season and feeling like we were still the big dogs. They didn’t put the work in and focus in to beat a good football team. We expected them to be much improved.”
After 10 more games, both teams have improved. Martinsville has peaked at the perfect time for its title defense. BNL pointed to this moment since the IHSAA announced the sectional pairings.
The names haven’t changed. Martinsville will attack with running back Lucas Dewey, who has blasted for 1,226 yards and 15 touchdowns. Junior quarterback Chase Davis has become the perfect complement with 2,056 passing yards and 18 touchdowns, while Landon Cazee has become a high-impact target with 75 catches for 966 yards and 10 scores. The Artesians, who clipped Greenwood and clubbed Charlestown in the first two rounds of the sectional to get back to the final, are averaging 27.1 points per game.
“Our kids are growing up and starting to play pretty good football the last few weeks,” Dugger said. “We had a lot of new guys this year. We thought we were talented, but you kind of go through the growing pains of Friday night football, and we play a schedule that’s not very forgiving of that. You take your lumps a little bit.”
In the first meeting with BNL, Dewey pounded out 182 yards and two touchdowns. Martinsville was doomed by five turnovers, by giving up two 80–plus scoring passes. “In Week One, it was a real sloppy game from the Artesians,” Dugger summarized.
“We caught them off guard on both sides of the ball,” Tidd said. “Their run game is extremely good, Dewey is a really talented back. They got more explosive when they moved Cazee inside to the slot. On defense, they look more aggressive to the ball. It will be a good challenge for us. Any time you face a really good team, and you’ve already gotten them once, the challenge is bigger and the odds are stacked against you.”
Indeed, in addition to the home-field edge, Martinsville has the intangible advantage of revenge for the first loss, perceived respect for BNL’s label as a very slight favorite, and history. After winning only twice in Martinsville, BNL must now do it twice in one season.
“We try to block out anything and everything,” Dugger said. “Nobody cares what happened last week, nobody cares about next week, it’s right now and this moment. We’re playing good football at the right time. When the whistle blows, it comes down to which team can execute at the highest level.”
Martinsville will have to slow down BNL’s explosive offense. Kirby ranks second in the state in passing yards (3,135) and fourth in touchdowns (32). Instead of one main target, he counts on four with Jaden Gilbert (56 for 819 yards and 6 TDs), Parker Kern (44 for 645, 7 TDs), Malakai Goodman (34 for 672, 4 TDs) and Cam Gates (33 for 526, 6 scores). Brody Horton has provided recent running game balance with 802 yards and 13 touchdowns as BNL is averaging 36.1 points per game (10th in Class 4A).
Gilbert led that corps with six catches for 130 yards against the Artesians.
“They are just really impressive,” Dugger said. “They do a good job of spreading you out and finding where you’re not. Kirby is so much improved, a quick release and puts the ball out there in space for guys to make plays. Their receivers make tough catches, they come down with the ball, they’re good at attacking it. When things get chaotic, he’s able to extend the play and finds gaps.
“You don’t want it to be a shootout, but you take the game the way it comes. We hope our defense shows up, takes away stuff they’re good at, causes some problems. We’re going up against a really good team. Ours kids have to execute, play our brand of football.”
BNL’s keys will be staying disciplined, especially with emotions jacked to an extreme level, and composed. Every mistake gets magnified at this level.
“We have to take care of the ball, make sure we play within our system,” Tidd said. “We have to stay within ourselves. We can’t let the emotions get too high, we can’t let nerves get to us. So far, they’ve handled it pretty well, for being in uncharted territory.”
The winner will face either No.11 Jasper (9-2) or No.4 Heritage Hills (10-1) in the regional. Think about that for a moment. That’s very tempting to look ahead.
”I try not to,” Tidd said. “I try to stay in the moment. I believe we have the team to do it.”
CLASS 4A SECTIONAL 23
Championship
BNL at MARTINSVILLE
Kickoff: Friday, 7 p.m.
Records: BNL 8-3; Martinsville 5-6
Coaches: Brayden Tidd, 8-3 in first season with BNL; Brian Dugger, 44-28 in sixth season with Martinsville
Sagarin ratings: BNL 63.63; Martinsville 62.21
Series: Martinsville leads 23-4
Last meeting: On Aug. 22 in the season opener, BNL stopped Martinsville 33-15. Dayson Kirby threw for 403 yards and five touchdowns for the Stars. Lucas Dewey ran for 182 yards and two TDs for the Artesians.
Previous games story: Stars quench thirst with stunning win
Game notes: BNL has won only two road games in the series. Martinsville is the defending sectional champion, while BNL is chasing its first title since 2011 (and second ever). Martinsville is 3-0 against BNL in the postseason meetings. BNL is playing a game in November for only the 11th time since the current playoff format started in 1985.
