BELVIDERE, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) — This week eight NIC-10 matchup between Hononegah and Belvidere North has loomed large since the football season started. It just might be the matchup of the season in the conference.
Belvidere North is the one NIC-10 team with a perfect record at 7-0. Hononegah’s record isn’t perfect, but the Indians haven’t been defeated on the field. Their only loss was the week three forfeit to Harlem.
Hononegah running back/linebacker Kurtis Smith said the Indians began thinking about this game with Belvidere North the moment they wrapped up their win over Boylan last Friday night.
“Right after the last whistle blew. I mean, I wasn’t really satisfied with our performance against Boylan, so I was already thinking, we’ve got to be better next week and thinking about that game.”
The Blue Thunder have their fate in their own hands. If they win this game and next week against Harlem, they will be the outright NIC-10 champs for the first time in school history.
“It goes through my head constantly. It constantly goes through everyone’s head here that we’re right there for the conference title,” said Belvidere North offensive lineman Josh Kaduk. “We’ve never won it alone, so that’s going through our heads. It’s going to be a big factor this week.”
The Blue Thunder have had one close call all season. That was in week two when they needed double overtime to get past Freeport. They’ve been a picture of consistency. Their week four win against Boylan was their most impressive win. The last three weeks, they rolled against the three teams at the bottom of the conference, but they’ve managed to maintain their edge.
“I think so,” said North head coach Jeff Beck. “It’s something that we pointed out to the guys that we wanted to make sure that we were attacking every week the same way no matter who the opponent is. It was about us getting better and about us executing our stuff.”
The Blue Thunder have kept winning despite some injuries. The young guys they keep plugging in keep getting the job done.
“I’m really proud of the way all of our guys have stepped up with our injury situation,” said Beck. “Just when we need someone, a kid doesn’t say, ‘I don’t play that position.’ They just say, ‘Okay, if you want me to play there, I’ll play there.”
The closest game Hononegah has had all season was last Friday when they got by Boylan 17-7. In that game, the Indians came up with big plays when they needed them, especially on defense with a defensive unit that’s giving up only seven points per game, the fewest in the conference.
Hononegah head coach Brian Zimmerman appreciated the effort from his defense last week. “That goal line stand down there, it looked like they (Boylan) had momentum. It looked like Boylan had momentum and was going to take it in the end zone, and I’ll give our defense credit for that one because that was such a huge play, and it was not just one play, it was several plays in a row.”
Smith plays right in the middle of Hononegah’s defense at inside linebacker.
“We’re really fast and everybody flies to the ball. I would say even more so than last year.”
These are two defenses, Hononegah and Belvidere North that fly around. These are two offenses that prefer to run the football and keep moving the chains. They both do that well. And these are two teams that have depth.
“There’s not anybody you can really key on,” said Zimmerman of North’s offense. “Their backfield has depth.”
“They have a ton of players,” said Beck of the Indians. “They have a ton of size.”
“They’re very fast. They’re physical,” said Kaduk of Hononegah. “They’re chasing down ball carriers everywhere. It’s going to be a great game.”
Kickoff is set for around 7:15 p.m. Friday night at Milt Brown Stadium at Belvidere North. For highlights and analysis of the game, watch “Overtime” Friday night on Fox 39 immediately following the Oregon-Purdue Big Ten football game on Fox. “Overtime” should start right around 10:30 or shortly thereafter.
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