Salukis, Indians battle for county bragging rights
Two teams that seem to be heading in opposite directions will meet on the gridiron with county bragging rights on the line.
Everything else can pretty much be thrown out the window, however, when Red Hill High School and Lawrenceville High School’s football teams meet in the annual Oil Field Trophy Game in Bridgeport.
Two teams that seem to be heading in opposite directions will meet on the gridiron with county bragging rights on the line.
Everything else can pretty much be thrown out the window, however, when Red Hill High School and Lawrenceville High School’s football teams meet in the annual Oil Field Trophy Game in Bridgeport.
The Salukis (2-1, 1-1 LIC) are on the uptick in this condensed 2021 spring season, as they have won two straight games. After losing at Newton (19-0) in their opener, Red Hill has bounced back to record wins over Oblong-Palestine-Hutsonville (22-0) and Marshall (30-26).
“The team is continuing to get better,” RHHS head coach Billy Gray said. “Their confidence is improving and with that, so is their play.”
Meanwhile, the Indians (0-3, 0-3 LIC) have had a rough start to their season, dropping games to Flora (35-22), Casey-Westfield (48-6) and Robinson (47-14).
“We knew we were fairly young going into the season, so the goal all along has been to get better each week,” LHS head coach Travis Reider said. “We’ve had a good week of practice, the kids have worked really hard and have done a good job trying to correct the things we need to fix.”
In addition to their differing records, the teams are near polar opposites when it comes to style of play.
Red Hill features a power running game that features multiple backs, but also has the ability to hit the big play in the passing game if the defense falls asleep.
Junior quarterback Andrew Maxfield leads the way for the Salukis with 242 yards rushing and two touchdowns, while he also has 105 yards and four touchdowns on 10-19 passing.
Supplementing the RHHS rushing attack are senior Drake Allen with 159 yards and a touchdown, juniors Ben Stimler (64 yards), Jared Henry (52 yards) and Tukker Moore (23 yards) and sophomore Jake Powden (36 yards).
Meanwhile, top threats in the passing game for the Salukis include junior Anthony Jerrell (3 catches, 40 yards, 2 TDs) and senior Damien Plummer (2 catches, 35 yards, 2 TDs).
On the other hand, Lawrenceville has done most of its damage through the air this season, with junior quarterback Brenyn Winningham leading the Little Illini Conference with 583 yards and four touchdowns on 49-98 passing.
Top target has been freshman Bryant Jenkins with 276 yards and two touchdowns, while fellow freshman Kolby Stoops has 175 yards and a touchdown. Other threats include senior Hunter Scott (124 yards), junior fullback Ryan Schultz (12 yards, TD) and junior Jared Gray (11 yards).
Winningham is also the leading rusher for the Indians with 172 yards and a touchdown, while Schultz has added 82 yards on the ground.
Despite those differences, both coaches know all that and basically everything else can be thrown out the window once they take the field Friday night. They expect both teams to fight tooth and nail throughout the contest.
“I expect both teams to give it their all,” Reider said. “The kids all know each other and I expect both sides to play a good, hard-fought game.”
“The kids are excited to play their rivals on what is basically our Homecoming game,” Gray said. “Everything seems to be lining up. The weather looks good, the field is in great shape and hopefully it will be a good, clean hard-fought game.”
Keys to the Game
Offense: “We are going to do what we do to the best of our ability,” Gray said. “We want to try to control the football and then take shots when we have our chances. The longer we have the football, the better our chances are.”
“We have to be able to run the football,” Reider said. “We can’t throw the ball 40 times every week and expect to be successful. We have to be as balanced as we can be.”
Defense: “We have to come out and tackle,” Gray said. “We are getting better at pass defense, but we still need to improve. We have to try to slow Winningham down. He can beat you with his legs or with his arm. We have to play bend but don’t break defense and keep things under control.”
“We have to be able to stop the run,” Reider said. “Just as in most weeks, they are bigger than us up front, so we will have our work cut out for us.”
Last meeting: (2019) Lawrenceville 22, Red Hill 6. The Salukis struck first with a 26-yard touchdown run by Maxfield early in the opening period, but the Indians got a 48-yard touchdown run from Christion Beamon to take an 8-6 lead, then scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to seal the win. Dayman Parkman led LHS with 131 yards rushing and a touchdown, Beamon ran for 91 yards and a touchdown and Blayne Winningham threw for 57 yards and a touchdown, with Jordan Jones the leading receiver with 38 yards and a score. Gannon Gaither was the leading rusher for the Salukis with 64 yards, while Allen added 57 yards on the ground and Maxfield had a touchdown run among his 16 yards.
Series history: The two teams have played 47 times over the years, with Lawrenceville holding a 26-21 advantage. Last year’s win by the Indians snapped Red Hill’s three-game winning streak in the series. Prior to that, Lawrenceville had won five straight contests from 2011-15. Red Hill’s last win was a 70-0 victory in 2018. Since the Oil Field Trophy series began in 2001, Red Hill holds an 11-8 advantage over the Indians.
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Bridgeport.
Related content
Lady Indians feature solid group this season
LAWRENCEVILLE –– Mixing experience with a promising young group hopefully will lead to success for Lawrenceville High School’s softball team this season.
After not getting to play last season with a talented group that was expecting big things, a handful of those players return for the 2021 season, along with a large and talented sophomore class that will be counted on to catch up to the speed of varsity softball quickly.
Lady Salukis track has talent, lacks numbers
BRIDGEPORT –– Quality over quantity will be the theme for Red Hill High School’s girls’ track team this season.
Lady Indians, Lady Salukis still searching for wins
Wins continue to elude high school volleyball teams from Lawrence County, as they came up empty in t...