CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Northeast football (6-2) hosts Clarksville (5-4) Friday at 7 p.m. in the second round of the Class 5A Playoffs. It will be the first postseason matchup between the two rival schools in a decade.
“Fans should expect to see two teams that play really hard,” said Clarksville football coach Isaac Shelby. “If not for COVID, I think the atmosphere would be absolutely electric and it would be a standing-room-only situation.”
The Wildcats enter the contest riding a four-game winning streak that includes a 16-14 first-round playoff win last week over Munford. Shelby shared what he believes has fueled his team’s turnaround after struggling to start the season.
“Our kids are more experienced now,” Shelby said. “We have been making less critical errors that we made earlier in the year.”
Northeast coming off bye week
The Eagles come into the game on a different path, having had two bye weeks in just a month’s time span.
Northeast football coach Brandon Clark believes the additional rest and extra practice time has really helped his team down the stretch, and he isn’t necessarily concerned about the potential for rust.
“The benefit of the bye has been that we have really been able to focus on cleaning up any type of issues we felt that we had this season,” said Clark.
Momentum has always been a subjective topic of discussion in the sports world. Some believe that it is possible to string together successful performances and carry them over from game to game and week to week. Some on the other hand do not.
“I do not believe in momentum carrying across games with high school kids,” Shelby said. “I am a big believer in momentum during games though. To me, each day is its own seven-day process. I do not think last week has anything to do with this week.”
Big Northeast win earlier
Northeast clobbered Clarksville in the two teams’ previous meeting earlier in the season 44-14. Clark knows his group will face a much improved Wildcat bunch on Friday.
“They run the ball much better than the last time we saw them,” Clark said. “They look to be much more comfortable in what their scheme is now opposed to the first half of the season. They have transformed into a true smash-mouth football team.”
After suffering a shutout loss to Henry County a few weeks ago, the Eagles bounced back the following week in a big way by picking up a 57-18 win over Antioch. Clark echoed just how important the victory was to allow his team the chance to regain their confidence moving forward.
“It was really a great thing to be able to end the regular season with that win against Antioch,” Clark said. “I’ve always heard that winning cures the losing hangover and I believe that to be true in most cases.”
A trip to the Class 5A quarterfinals will be on the line Friday, as the victor will be the first team from Montgomery County to advance to the third round of the playoffs since 2013.
“Fans can expect to see two old crosstown rivals slug it out for 60 minutes to see who can go on to be one of the last 8 teams standing in 5A,” said Clark.