Published: November 05, 2009 11:47 pm      

FOOTBALL: Kings, Tigers meet tonight in sectional final

Three weeks into the regular season, Lewis Cass and Northwestern met in the opening round of the Mid-Indiana Conference play. The Kings emerged with a 26-7 win that put them on course to win a share of their second straight conference championship.

Now, three weeks into the postseason, the squads are ready to square off again with hardware going to the winner.

The No. 9-ranked Kings (8-3) visit the Tigers (9-2) tonight for the Class 2A Sectional 28 championship. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 o’clock.

Northwestern coach John Hendryx noted his squad faces “a huge challenge” tonight. Cass has gone 16-4 in postseason games in 2005-09 and made its first state finals appearance last season.

“You really can’t be playing a team that is more tournament prepared,” Hendryx said. “They’re used to playing at this time of the year and they’re used to dealing with the pressure of big games.”

Hendryx added Cass has a battle-tested leader in senior QB/safety Damon Foreman, a key holdover from the Kings’ 2008 state runner-up squad.

“There are very few quarterbacks who have state finals experience,” Hendryx said. “To have that kid coming back with such a good group of [teammates] and in that kind of program, you’re just set up for success. We really have our hands full battling that kind of tournament experience.”

Foreman was instrumental when the Kings beat the Tigers in Week 3. Cass built a 14-0 lead, but Brayden Merrell’s 78-yard TD reception in the third quarter brought Northwestern back into the game. Foreman had an answer on the next play from scrimmage, connecting with Derrick Worden on a 78-yard catch-and-run. Foreman followed with a 2-yard TD run.

Foreman picked off two passes in the fourth quarter, including one in the red zone with 8:05 remaining, to secure the Kings’ 10th straight win in the rivalry series.

The Kings finished with a 261-113 advantage in rushing yards and a 434-302 advantage in total yards. In addition, the Kings had a plus-three turnover margin.

Northwestern played that game without its senior QB, Trevor Gibson. He missed the first three weeks of the season following an ankle injury that required surgery.

“From Week 3 to now, [the Tigers] are not the same team,” Cass coach Scott Mannering said. “I like to think we’re better too, but they have a lot of depth that we don’t have and they have good speed at a lot of positions. Overall, they are a lot different team than what we saw the first time.

“I really think for us to advance, we’re going to have to play our best game of the year.”

Gibson leads a balanced Tiger offense that can stretch opponents with deep passing, or pound opponents with a solid ground game.

“We’re probably not going to get as much run support from our secondary guys because they have to play honest all the time,” Mannering said. “Our secondary is probably one of the areas that has improved the most for us over the course of the season. I feel good about where we’re at; now are we ready to face a team like this? We’re going to find out.”

The Tigers have a penchant for big plays. Running back Michael Schulte gains 9.3 yards per carry and 19.3 yards per reception, Gibson averages 16.5 yards per pass completion and Merrell gains 21.3 yards per reception.

The Kings are impressive in their own right. Worden gains 9.9 yards per carry and 21.5 yards per reception, fullback Josh Knutson averages 7.2 yards per carry and Foreman is a dual threat who had TD runs of 45 and 60 yards against Tipton last week.

Hendryx points to matching the Kings’ physical, intense play as a must for his squad.

“They’re going to play fast and they’re going to play physical for 48 minutes,” he said. “You have to be prepared for that — you have to play with that kind of physicality and you have to play with that kind of speed.”

Mannering noted the Tigers are playing that way from what he has seen on film.

Mannering and Hendryx have coached nine sectional championship squads between them — and they agree the thrill of a sectional final never gets old.

“It’s exciting, especially when we’re playing someone right in our own backyard like Northwestern,” Mannering said. “It’s going to be a big challenge for us, but at the same time I think it looks like two pretty good teams are going to go up against each other and it could be a decent weather night too. I think it could be a great atmosphere for high school football.”