The Danville and Highland football teams, both coming off hard-fought games, face off this Friday night in Danville at 7 p.m. in Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference action.
The Blue Devils defeated KMAC power Northmor 14-12 on Sept. 18, while Highland came out on the losing end of a 34-26 brawl at home against undefeated Centerburg.
“They (Highland) are definitely better than what their record shows” Danville coach Cam Smith told the Mount Vernon News. “Being a bigger school than us, they are going to have more athletes and bigger guys. They have played some good games and just fallen a little short, so they are definitely capable of scoring and holding teams. They're going to be tough.”
Last week’s win was a confidence builder for the young Blue Devils (3-1, 3-1).
“A lot of times, young guys and young teams don't pull out a win like that.” Smith said. “It might be because of the adversity, when they scored late in the game. Sometimes the mentality could change, but we held them on that two-point play.”
With three straight wins, Smith is looking for another strong outing from his defense. On offense, he needs another 182-yard performance out of running back Deion Parker, who led the Blue Devils last week, along with a strong showing from teammate Kaiden Colopy.
“If we can run the ball the way we did last week, a lot of good things can happen,” Smith said. “It's hard to stop any team with that many yards rushing. I think controlling the ball like that opens up a lot of other avenues in the game.”
The Scots (2-2, 2-2) held off the Trojans for three quarters last week before falling behind. Scots quarterback Kadin Johnson went 11-for-28 for 247 yards, but tossed a pair of interceptions in the fourth quarter. His team was also penalized nine times against Centerburg.
“We just have to cut down on some of the mistakes we made last week,” Highland coach Matt Jones said. “We just have to do our thing with our game plan. We just have to execute and we will be okay. We need to take care of ourselves and take care of the football. We need to sustain some drives and not have penalties and we will be okay.”
Last Friday, Centerburg’s Donnell Marshall rolled up 111 yards on 21 carries against the Scots, who can’t afford to let Colopy and Parker do that this week.
“We’ll continue to fly to the football,” Jones said. “We're playing assignment defense. Everyone knows their job and responsibilities. It won't be easy at all. We've been watching the video. They’re typical Danville kids— hard-nosed, scrappy, and they’re fighters. We have our hands full on this one for sure.”
Freshman running back Dane Nauman provided a spark for Highland against Centerburg, rushing for 136 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.
