“It’s nice that we have an opportunity to know we’re in the playoffs,” Carlisle coach Mike Brown said. “Our other goal was to win the conference. We have a tie, but our goal wasn’t to have a tie. Our goal was to win it outright.
“So it’s a big-game feel around here for Week 10, which is nice because you’re focused and flying around at practice and everybody’s engaged. There’s no doubt we have gotten better every week.”
The Indians are 7-2 overall and 5-0 in the SWBL, with Milton-Union (6-3, 4-1) alone in second place and hosting Waynesville on Friday.
It seems like a very long time ago when Carlisle dropped a pair of three-point decisions to start the season.
“We’ve got to stay humble,” Indians senior halfback/cornerback Zayne Hart said. “We’re not worrying about the playoffs. We’re worried about this game ahead of us.”
Carlisle did suffer a major loss last weekend when junior halfback/defensive end D.J. Chambers, who’s returned two kickoffs and a punt for touchdowns this year, got hurt in a 42-7 win at Eaton.
“I won’t disclose his medical information, but he’s out for the year,” Brown said. “It’s a huge loss on both sides of the ball and special teams. Most people weren’t kicking to him. D.J. flipped field position without even getting the ball.
“Football is a violent game. Some not-so-good things can happen and everyone on the team knows that, but we kind of play that way too. We play hard and physical, and I think that’s the identity we’ve been trying to instill.”
Hart stepped up and roared to 277 yards on the ground against the Eagles.
“The line was blocking extremely well,” Hart said. “They were just fitting up really well, and my other backs were blocking amazing for me. I appreciate all that.”
“The great part about Zayne is when you watch film of a lot of Ridge Reed’s nice runs, Zayne’s out there lead blocking for him just as hard as if he had the ball,” Brown said. “To see Zayne have a game like he had at Eaton, you just feel good for the kid because he’s one of those guys who’ll do whatever he’s asked to do.”
Reed is Carlisle’s backfield workhorse with 1,432 yards and 14 touchdowns on 129 carries. The senior’s dealt with an ankle problem all year and only ran the ball seven times last Friday, but Brown said he’s fine.
“He thought he aggravated it and came out for a bit last week,” the CHS coach said. “By the time he had shaken it off and was ready to go, we were up three touchdowns and Zayne Hart was going off. So with how cautious we’ve been with Ridge all year, we kind of played the cautious card again.”
Dixie (4-5, 2-3) is averaging 29.8 points per game, which is good. But the Greyhounds are also giving up an average of 35.9.
Senior running back Ethan Arnett has carried the ball 109 times for 913 yards and 11 TDs for Dixie. Junior quarterback Devin Worley is 47 of 98 for 646 yards and 10 scores.
“We’re using the shotgun wing, a version of the double wing,” Greyhounds coach David Worley said. “We’re throwing the ball a little more now. We had a very good start to the season and didn’t need to throw it as much early.”
Carlisle likes to pound the ball on the ground, and Worley said Dixie has seen plenty of that lately, playing Madison and Milton-Union the last two weeks.
“We’ll be ready for it,” Worley said. “Now whether we can physically hold up is a different story. We dress about 20 kids, so we get worn down a little bit. But we’ll definitely be playing hard. I guarantee that.”
Friday’s game
What: Carlisle (7-2, 5-0 SWBL Buckeye) at Dixie (4-5, 2-3 SWBL Buckeye), 7 p.m.
Where: Chief Brown Stadium, 300 S. Fuls Road, New Lebanon
Last meeting: Carlisle won 34-7 in 2015
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