After finishing the regular season with a 7-1 record, the South Hardin Tigers football team will host the Camanche Storm (4-4) in a Class 1A playoff game Friday night. South Hardin enters the postseason ranked fourth in Class 1A.
Offensively, the Tigers have been led by quarterback Peyton Welsh and running back Kameron Adams, who have combined for more than 80 percent of the team’s offensive production. Camanche has totaled 2,352 yards this season, with most of that coming from quarterback Charlie Sager and running back Gavin Baker.
Defensively, the Tigers are led by Lucas Perry, who has tallied 45.5 tackles, and Manning Pfantz, who leads the team in tackles for loss and sacks with 10 and four, respectively.
Head coach Nick Eller says his team’s regular-season exposure to multiple offensive and defensive looks has helped prepare them for a team like the Storm.
“It will be a challenge for us because we’re playing a team that does a good job of run and pass and they spread you out, make you tackle in space,” says Eller. “Kind of like I said, a lot of the same things we do. Defensive wise, throw a lot of different stuff at you. They’ll show some different fronts, bring a lot of blitz, show a lot of fake blitz. So just going to be a good challenge for us overall. We’ve seen a lot of different things this year, so I hope that’s kind of prepared us for games like this.”
Eller expects a competitive matchup between two teams with similar styles.
“Definitely gonna be a challenge. Kind of which team plays the best, running the same stuff in a way, I feel like, and our kids kind of know that,” says Eller. “Gotta go show we can run what we do the best and or better than they do.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Eldora.
Full interview with Head Coach Nick Eller is below;
