Published: October 28, 2009 11:06 pm      

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Rivalry redone

NA looks to stay hot against team that started streak

More than two weeks ago, New Albany’s football team was sitting at 0-8. It was a place Bulldogs’ coach Kevin Roth didn’t like — and a place he hasn’t been in his last 20 years of coaching.

Still, Roth said, he never had to worry about his team quitting on him, and he never had to worry about his team’s attitude being anything other than positive.

“These kids are great kids,” Roth said. “I’ve coached some teams that have won that haven’t been this (positive). They just like playing football with their friends. Their attitudes have stayed up and they’ve stuck with it. (Former Alabama coach) Bear Bryant once said, ‘If you stick with it long enough, you’re going to win.’”

New Albany senior quarterback Simon Weber said being winless was softened by a continued positive vibe from the Bulldogs.

“It makes it a lot easier when everybody has good attitude, to keep trying and keep playing hard,” he said.

“I knew we were a good team,” Bulldog wide receiver Chris Whitehead said. “We just knew we had to keep working hard to get that first win. There were never any negative attitudes.”

Floyd Central coach Brian Glesing has seen New Albany’s love for the game first-hand. His Highlanders were New Albany’s first victim this season — 17-15 two weeks ago. The two Floyd County rivals are set to meet again Friday at Ron Weigleb Stadium, this time in the Sectional 8 semifinal.

“It looks like they’re having fun,” Glesing observed. “They’re playing great football and they’re enjoying playing the game. That’s going to be tough for us to overcome.”

“Everybody’s more confident, of course, knowing that we can win some games and being on a streak,” Weber said. “We’re walking around with a different kind of swagger.”

Despite being 7-3 and clearly superior to New Albany all season, Glesing said his Highlanders are hosting a dangerous two-win squad on Friday.

“Our kids are looking forward to playing them again,” Glesing said. “They’re going to be up for the game, that’s for sure. But that doesn’t change the fact that they’re the hottest team in Southern Indiana right now. Coach Roth has them playing their best football.”

New Albany understands that Floyd Central was embarrassed by losing to an 0-8 team and will be out for revenge on Friday.

“I know they’re definitely going to be coming out thirsty for blood,” Weber said. “I think they’ll be pretty determined. I’ve talk to a few of (the Highlander players) and they’re thinking that the first game was a little bit of a fluke.”

Whitehead agreed that he and the Bulldogs will see an enthused Highlander team. But the junior said the Bulldogs will match Floyd’s energy.

“I think they’ll be hungry to beat us. They lost to an 0-8 team,” Whitehead said. “But we’re going to be just as hungry so we can stay in the sectional.”

“I think Floyd’s going to be extremely fired up, and I think it’s going to be an extremely good football game,” Roth said.

The biggest change in the Bulldogs has been on the defensive side of the ball. New Albany had surrendered at least 28 points in each of its first seven contests. In the last three weeks, including a 13-10 overtime loss to Seymour, the Bulldogs have given up just 43 points in regulation.

“We had a young, young defense,” Roth said of his team’s makeup before the season. “We realized going to Bedford (in Week 4), that we had to do something (differently). Against Seymour, (the defense) played an excellent game. Since that point, they’re playing physically and they’re trusting the man next to them.”

“They changed their defense and it’s much, much improved,” Glesing assessed. “We’ve got to score some points on them, because they’re going to score points on us. If we don’t put up more than 15 points, it’s going to be New Albany moving on.”

Weber said playing the offense has gained confidence from the defense’s improvement.

“They’ve definitely been turning it on these last four or five games,” Weber said. “We’ve made a few changes and they’re definitely working out to our advantage.”

After scoring 62 points and scoring on all nine of its offensive possessions in a 62-27 win over Jennings County last week, Glesing is confident that his team can overcome the mistakes it made during its loss to the Bulldogs two weeks ago.

“We didn’t do some things fundamentally very well,” Glesing admitted. “We have to execute and do our jobs.”

New Albany believes that its win over Floyd Central favors another Bulldog victory on Friday.

“We all know what a win feels like now,” Whitehead said. “That’s something we want to feel again.”

“It’s still in our kids’ guts that we went face-to-face with them, on a night when we had lost eight in a row, and beat them,” Roth said.