Today SHS will be playing Bloomington North at their venue at 7 p.m. This is the Cards’ last away game of the regular season.

“Depending on how we do this Friday, we still hold our own destiny in our hands,” head coach Bill Peebles said.

Last season SHS beat Bloomington North 21-15. The running game opened up for the Cards last season against Bloomington North. Then-sophomore running back Andrew Mappes had 30 carries for 223 yards and two touchdowns.

Peebles says that on offense the Cards need to execute better, and defensively they need to find the ball. He thinks that lately their offense has been doing a good job of spreading the ball around and he has seen big steps from his defensive linemen and linebackers. According to Peebles, the Cards need to win this game to stay in the hunt for the Conference Championship.

“I had a big game against (Bloomington North) last year,” Mappes said. “I feel like I can really run the ball against them. I think we should have a good rushing attack and a good game.”

SHS is 5-2 this season. They are 4-1 in conference play. According to Max Preps SHS is ranked 31st in the state and they are ranked 1,279 nationally.

Following last Friday’s 41-13 win against Terre Haute South, junior wide receiver Blake Evans broke the school record for most touchdown receptions in a season with 13. That record was originally set by Todd Hottel in 1985 with 12. Evans had 11 receptions for 158 yards and three touchdowns. Senior quarterback Luke Johnston was 20 for 27 with 235 yards passing, four touchdowns and two carries for 19 yards. Evans is now leading the state in receiving yards with 857 yards and Johnston is third in the state in the passing yards with 1,783 yards.

Columbus North and Bloomington South play each other this Friday. If Columbus North beats Bloomington South this week and the Cards win this Friday’s game then it can keep them in the hunt, Peebles says.

Bloomington North is in SHS’s conference and Mappes says that it’s important to beat teams in your conference. Mappes thinks that the team’s goal is to beat Columbus North at the end of the season and win Sectionals.

Junior middle linebacker Jalen Williams stated that early on, the team struggled due to losing players due to injury. Williams thinks that the team chemistry is clicking now.

“Our biggest strength right now is probably (in) our offense in our passing game,” Williams said. “We are looking pretty strong there. With Blake (Evans) at slot and then we got Andrew Mappes and (junior running back) Micah (Walker)running the ball with our front line doing pretty good. (On) defense we got (junior defensive end) Ethan (Vanover) back and we got a lot of people coming back and we should be strong.”

Peebles says that he wanted his team to start out the season winning game one against Roncalli at Lucas Oil Stadium, then beating Perry Meridian, then win Conference Indiana and then Sectionals. SHS won game one against Roncalli 27-21 and beat Perry Meridian 34-28 so they have completed their first two goals of the season but winning Conference Indiana and beating Columbus North in Sectionals is yet to come.

According to Peebles, a lot of people on the team are playing a big part to their success offensively and defensively and he thinks that they are getting better each week.

“They have played really gutsy football,” Peebles said. “We have been in tough games every single week. We have responded very well to success and to failures and we are proud of them (because) they are a good group.

Following this game, SHS only has one more left of the regular season. They are playing their last game at home against Columbus North. After that, it is time for the tournament and SHS will have to decide their fate.