CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – The top two teams from Region 7-5A will meet up Friday, Nov. 20, in the Class 5A quarterfinals when Henry County welcomes in Northeast.
The Eagles make their way back to the third round of the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
Before defeating Clarksville this past Friday to advance to the third round of the Class 5A Playoffs, Northeast football coach Brandon Clark was bombarded with “good luck” messages from people with ties to his current school.
“I had a lot of NEHS alumni’ especially from the ’90s and early 2000s, reach out last week prior to the game wishing us the best of luck against CHS,” Clark said. “For those people, CHS will always remain Northeast’s biggest rival. It really showed me just how deep and traditional the game is anytime CHS and NEHS go at it.”
Tough opponent in Henry County
If they look to make it any further in the playoffs, Northeast will have to get past a talented Patriot bunch who are no strangers to deep postseason runs.
After their 58-0 blowout loss to Henry County in the two teams’ previous meeting this season, Clark discussed how important a change of mindset is for his team before entering the rematch on such a big stage.
“Henry County is a very good team,” Clark said. “They are senior heavy in most positions and do not make many mistakes. With that being said, we have to view them just as that. I have been telling the players that they are going to be lining up against 11 other talented high school players that have Henry County on their jerseys. That’s where it ends. It’s 11-on-11 every play. It isn’t us versus the history of Henry County football, or us versus the booster club of Henry County football or us versus the stadium and fans of Henry County football. We crucially need our players to realize and accept that we will play their best 11 and that is where it ends.”
Lessons from prior games
Northeast was able to move the ball on Henry County’s defense the last time out, but were unable to find the end zone, resulting in numerous stalled drives. This time around, Clark believes his team is more than capable of cashing in on their offensive possessions if they can just keep their emotions in check.
“Going back and watching film of the last time we played Henry County, it is gut wrenching to watch some of the errors that we made due to nerves and under-confidence in ourselves and each other,” Clark said. “We were able to watch the positive things that we did do. We were able to move the ball and we were able to make stops on them, but none of that mattered because we gave ourselves inflicted wounds with the lack of confidence and nervousness that we had.”
The Eagles will also have to contend against the three-headed monster on the offensive side of the ball for Henry County. Patriots quarterback Ryan Damron, running back Jermarcus Johnson and wide receiver and University of Memphis commit Jawon Odoms each found the end zone multiple times against Northeast earlier this season.
Despite his team’s recent progress, Clark knows getting his players to buy in this week in practice is half the battle.
“I am working as a coach to mentally prepare these guys for this game way better than I did last time,” Clark said. “We all agreed as a team that Henry County is a good team, but not a 58-point better team.”
Northeast football (7-2) travels to take on Henry County (9-2) Friday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.