By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – From dormant to dangerous, Scottsburg’s football resurrection has been one of southern Indiana’s overshadowed secrets. Starting over from scratch after a 34-year absence, the program that disappeared is suddenly on Bedford North Lawrence’s radar.
When Scottsburg shut down its operation following the 1983 season, the Warriors had lost 31 consecutive games. After restarting the varsity program in 2017, Scottsburg has posted three straight winning seasons, including an impressive 9-3 campaign a year ago. Now the Warriors will take another big step when they tangle with the angry Stars on Friday night.
This first meeting between the programs will include interesting subplots. BNL (5-2) is coming off a 55-21 drubbing against Class 5A Floyd Central, thus the Stars need a bounce-back performance to restore momentum for the looming sectional. Scottsburg (4-3) had the postseason in mind when it cleared the schedule to make room for BNL’s inaugural visit.
And there’s the added layer of mystery, facing an unfamiliar opponent.
“It’s kind of like the sectional, tournament time,” BNL coach Brayden Tidd said. “You basically show up not knowing anything about the opponent. We’ve never seen them before, or in years past. There’s a lot of challenges, not knowing tendencies.”
Game film has been mandatory homework. That can also be deceiving. What looks good from afar can sometimes be far from good. What looks weak on video can surprise in strength. There’s live, and there’s Memorex (for all those ancient enough to remember those commercials). Seeing the foe across the line of scrimmage is a much clearer perspective.
”It’s totally different,” Tidd said. “There are some kids, when you look on film, you think maybe we can attack that spot. Then you get there and go ‘Nope.’ Some kids don’t look as strong on film as what they are. There are others that are the opposite. That’s the beauty of football, there are a lot of in-game adjustments in games like this.”
Here’s what BNL already knows: Scottsburg will present problems with its dual-threat offensive balance. Sophomore quarterback Caleb Salas has thrown for 843 yards and eight touchdowns, plus he’s added 213 rushing yards and six TDs. Senior running back Luke Hamilton has totaled 730 yards rushing, and he’s the leading receiver with 19 catches for 255 yards.
“The strength of our team has been an adaptable defense and a balanced offense,” Scottsburg coach Kyle Mullins said. “Overall, we have team grit and ability to overcome adversity in games. Our winning seasons can be attributed to our players and past players, and their commitment to our strength and conditioning program. Another contributing factor has been a strong coaching staff. I have been fortunate to hire men that invest in our players’ lives, on and off the field, and that has elevated our program.
“We’re the only 3A team on BNL’s schedule. I am concerned they have played a stronger schedule. We wanted to beef up our schedule to help prepare us for postseason play.”
BNL will counter with the running game of Malakai Goodman, who’s bearing down on the school’s single-season record. He has totaled 1,305 yards, putting him within range of Kraig Smoot’s 2010 mark of 1,456. Jaden Gilbert is also approaching a receiving record. He already owns the career mark for receptions (currently at 123), and he’s within 148 yards of Drew Shoufler’s record for career receiving yards (1,966 in 2018).
The Stars will worry about those as byproducts of performance. They need to erase the chalkboard following last week’s nail-screeching loss.
“It’s super important,” Tidd said. “With a game like we had, that can be really devastating and define the season, if you let it. We’ve talked about bouncing back and washing out that game. We need a really good one, I hope we come out and dominate.”
BNL will learn its postseason fate when the IHSAA announces the sectional pairings on Sunday night.
BNL at SCOTTSBURG
Kickoff: Friday, 7 p.m.
Records: BNL 5-2; Scottsburg 4-3
Coaches: Brayden Tidd, 13-6 in second season at BNL; Kyle Mullins, 46-60 in 10th season at Scottsburg
Sagarin ratings: BNL 51.53; Scottsburg 35.32
Series: This is the first meeting between the teams
Game notes: Scottsburg restarted its varsity program in 2017 after shutting down following the 1983 campaign. The Warriors, who lost 31 consecutive games prior to the shutdown, have now posted three straight winning seasons, including 9-3 last season.
