After a Week 1 victory over Flora, the Carmi-White County Bulldogs are set to travel to Hamilton County to face the Foxes in Week 2 of the High School Football season.
It was an impressive 2nd half for the Bulldogs last week, who fell behind 14-8 early in the 3rd, but ripped off 28 second half points to pull away with the win.
The Bulldogs once again proved last week that they are a run-first team, after only throwing the football one time. Noah Pollard ran all over the Wolves, rushing for 252 yards on 29 carries with 3 touchdowns. Kade Stockton added 59 yards on 14 carries with 2 scores of his own.
The CWC offensive line won the battle in the trenches, but they will face a potentially challenging front seven from Hamilton County on Friday. The Foxes fell to Sesser-Valier in Week 1, but their defense gave the Red Devils plenty of fits. They will start with either 3 or 4 down defensive linemen, but each play they will blitz any of their 3 middle linebackers. Their middle linebackers attempt to perfectly time the snap count, or force the offensive line to flinch. Both resulting in mistakes from the offense. That was the same defensive style the Foxes played against the Bulldogs last year, when Carmi scored scored just 18 points.
One thing that is consistent about Hamilton County is their physicality. It doesn’t matter if they’re 9-0, or 0-9, they always have been a physical football team.
“It will be key for us to match their physicality,” said CWC head coach Kurt Simon. “They played us very difficult last season, and they’ve brought back almost everyone from last season.”
Simon is correct about Hamilton County’s returning experience. Braxton Miller (#42) was their leading rusher a year ago as a sophomore, running for 685 yards and 6 touchdowns. However in week one, the Foxes only rushed for a combined 28 yards. Their only score came on a 1-yard quarterback sneak. Much like Flora, Hamilton County wants to throw the ball. Senior quarterback, Andrew Webb (#6), threw the ball 16 times for 169 yards with an interception last week. Miller was heavily involved in that passing attack, catching 5 passes for 145 yards.
In terms of formations, we’ll see the Foxes lineup in a combination of formations in the shotgun with one or two wing backs, and one or two wide receivers. They aren’t necessarily looking to launch the ball down field every play, but short and quick intermediate throws with a combo of runs allows them to slowly move the ball down the field, with the occasional deep shot playing being called.
“When you have the inexperience that we have, every game is going to be a battle,” said Simon. “We have to make sure we take care of the football.”
Calpreps.com believes the game will indeed be a battle. They predict the Foxes will win, 21-20.
Fans who can’t make the road trip to McLeansboro will be able to listen to the game on 97.3 FM WRUL or they can watch on the WRUL Sports YouTube Channel.
Kick-off is set for 7 PM.
The Bulldogs will have a “bye-week” next week as they will receive a forfeit win from Vienna-Goreville. Their next game will be September 20 at Sesser-Valier.
