By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Remember the late Felix Baumgartner, the brave man who jumped from a helium-filled balloon on the edge of outer space, from 24 miles above the planet, in 2012? He reached a falling speed of 843 mph during his daring descent, setting world records.
That’s about equal to Bedford North Lawrence’s return to earth following its Week One road victory over Martinsville. From that incredible high in the emotional stratosphere, the Stars must now safely settle on the ground for the next great challenge.
BNL’s encore performance will come against another opponent that has made life miserable for the Stars. Bloomington North, at one time a small step on the schedule, has become a giant leap of an obstacle. The Cougars have won 16 of the last 17 meetings in the historic series, including last year’s BNL debacle. That’s a freefall of incredible frustration.
Of course, BNL suddenly knows how to end those kind of streaks. Last week’s amazing 33-15 triumph in Martinsville was the program’s first win at Siderewicz Field since 1979, the first over the Artesians since 1992. That’s why the Stars were sky-high following that opening victory. First-year head coach Brayden Tidd, almost as giddy as the athletes while winning his first career game, gave his team some celebratory time – less than 24 hours.
“We have to lock in,” he said. “That was cool, that was awesome, exactly what we needed. Now that they know they can do it, we have to expect that, every single day. We have to turn the page pretty quickly.”
Before turning the page, there are some fresh memories to review. The win at Martinsville deserves that, just an acquiescing moment for reflection, allowing another smile.
BNL senior quarterback Dayson Kirby was sensational, throwing for 407 yards (the second-highest yardage total in the state for the opening week) and five touchdowns (tied for the most). He hit two plays of 80-plus yards, including an 83-yard connection with Cam Gates. Jaden Gilbert caught two TD passes and had a third erased by a penalty.
On the defensive side, the Stars forced five turnovers, including interceptions by Jackson Jones and Driven Axsom. Dax Short and Jones logged 10 tackles apiece. Which was more surprising, the first-half offensive explosion or the toughening of a defense that allowed over 36 points per game a year ago? Tough question, and the answer depends on the taste. Both were dynamic.
“Being the guy who calls the offense, you want to say five touchdowns,” Tidd said with a laugh. “But Coach (Heath) Snider has those guys locked in on defense, he has them ready to go. That’s pretty impressive.
“We were flying around, having fun, playing fast. Confidence is huge for the guys. Any time you go through a season like last year, it’s kind of tough. So it speaks to them that they came out knowing they could perform. They showed it for all four quarters.“
Now it’s on to Bloomington North.
The Cougars started with a 28-14 loss to Mooresville. That could have been predicted after North unexpectedly changed coaches late in the summer, with former Perry Meridian and Indian Creek coach Brett Cooper stepping into the void in July. They also lost key transfers to their cross-town rival. The rebuild had to be rapid.
“The major challenge has been getting a genuine feel for what our players are most successful with and getting them in the proper position to have the success,” Cooper said. “A lot of that stems from us changing the verbiage and schematics in all three phases. We knew taking over in July would represent some issues, but we are planning and preparing for the long season with the understanding that it may be bumpy in the beginning. The long game is our goal.”
North’s primary issues came on the offensive end. The Cougars totaled only 135 yards. John Bargen completed 8 of 20 passes for 76 yards with a touchdown (to Nate Walker) and interception, while Brayden Johnson was the leading rusher with 40 yards.
“We caused a majority of our own problems and will spend this entire week correcting our mistakes,” Cooper said. “Although a majority of our starters are ‘new’, we still have a strong talent pool that will get better each week.”
Tidd was impressed with North’s defense on video.
“North has a fast and good defense, it’s designed to take away what we did a lot of on Friday,” he said. “Those guys fly to the football. They have a ton of athletes on offense, a quarterback who can see the field. So we’re not taking them lightly. We have to be ready to execute. We have to know our spots, make sure we’re running every route hard.”
North extended its series dominance with a brutal beatdown last season. The Stars were guilty of five turnovers, including two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns, and every punt was a bad-snap misadventure as North blocked two. Linebacker Ross Ogden was responsible for most of it with a blocked punt, a pick-six and a fumble return for a score. So there’s no reason for BNL to be over confident just yet.
“Confidence is a huge factor in this game, and we need to be able to stop theirs and create our own,” Cooper said. “Generally speaking, they played with a great confidence against Martinsville and backed it up with excellent execution.
”Offensively, BNL does a great job of getting the ball out quickly while getting it to their playmakers in space. We must limit their explosive plays, as there were many. On the defensive side, they tackled really well and showed the ability to be stout in the middle. BNL represents a great opponent that should have a ton of confidence. It should be a great game and we look forward to the challenge.”
On the flip side, BNL will be looking to eliminate the 12 penalties and the bad snaps in the shotgun.
“Think about how well it looks like we played on the surface, and everyone is talking about how well we played, and think about the mistakes on film,” Tidd said. “The bonehead plays, the penalties. We had a touchdown taken away, we got backed up 30 yards after an interception, on penalties. Think about how much better we could have played if we cleaned up a lot of little things. It’s very encouraging that we played well and still had a lot of mistakes. That will happen if you’re playing as hard as we were. They were leaving it out on the field.
“I believe in the guys in this locker room, I believe if we show up to play, I don’t see why we can’t be in every game we play.”
BNL is looking for a 2-0 start for the first time since 2017.
BNL at BLOOMINGTON NORTH
Kickoff: Friday, 7 p.m.
Records: BNL 1-0; Bloomington North 0-1 (ranked No.13 in Class 5A)
Coaches: Brayden Tidd, 1-0 in first season with BNL; Brett Cooper, 0-1 in first season with North (35-52 in 9th season overall)
Series: Bloomington North leads 23-14
Last meeting: Last year at BNL, the Cougars smacked the Stars 45-0. BNL had five turnovers (including two interceptions returned for touchdowns), and the Cougars blocked two punts. North triggered the running clock with 3:54 left in the third quarter. BNL’s Dayson Kirby hit 18 of 33 passes for 173 yards but was picked off four times, and the Stars managed only 41 rushing yards.
Previous game story: Special teams, defense do damage
Game notes: North has won six straight games and 16 of the last 17 in the series. BNL’s only win in that streak came in 2018. The Stars are looking for their first 2-0 start since 2017. BNL quarterback Dayson Kirby ranks second in the state in passing yards, and first in passing touchdowns, after the season opener.
