Bsport

• Final: North Posey 21, Southridge 14

POSEYVILLE, Ind. — North Posey set three goals in chronological order coming into the season.

1. Beat Mount Vernon
2. Win the Pocket Athletic Division Small School title
3. Win its sectional

The first objective was achieved in Week 1. The next, at least in part, was checked off with Friday’s 21-14 win over Southridge. As for the third?

“I think this group’s good enough to do that,” coach Waylon Schenk said.

The victory guarantees the Vikings at least a share of the divisional crown, and a win over Pike Central in a week’s time can take away the asterisk. Schenk repeated a message in the postgame huddle.

Scoreboard:Check out the Week 8 Evansville-area high school football scores

“Hell of a game,” he said four times throughout his shorter-than-typical team talk. “Hell of a game.”

The win fits that description. It may not have been the most picturesque or easy-to-watch matchup but it didn’t need to be. A gritty win showed this season’s Poseyville outfit can both score limitless points and claw out results when needed.

The implications of Friday’s game at Joe Gengelbach Field weren’t lost on those playing, lining the benches or populating the stands. The winner of the Southridge-North Posey showdown has won the division title in each of the past three seasons, with this year likely adding a fourth.

“There’s a lot of history behind it,” said Jed Galvin, whose rushing touchdown and two interceptions were crucial to the Vikings’ win. “We always know it’s gonna be a hard game. We had a chip on our shoulder after last year (a 49-0 loss) and we used that a lot.

“We got back at them.”

Despite at least a share of the crown and being within touching distance of his team’s first two goals, Schenk thinks his team is capable of more. “We still haven’t played our best football,” he said. And that’s what makes the Vikings’ showings so far this season as impressive as they’ve been.

There’s still another level.

“We knew coming in we were gonna be good,” Schenk said. He continued to say that the wind hindered Liam Stone’s throwing ability early and that he was on his quarterback for that. “After a couple scrambles, I said, ‘Heck with it, man. Just go be you. Go use your legs and carry us to this championship.’”

“Our team needs games like this,” Stone added, “so we can get ready for that postseason run.”

The Vikings will celebrate the win. They don’t historically beat Southridge often — though this now makes it two of three — so the cheers are warranted. But Schenk and his team know there’s still work to be done. He was adamant that North Posey hasn’t played its best yet despite six of its seven wins coming by 27 or more points.

The only other close game the Vikings have played was a 10-0 loss to Heritage Hills. Beating the Raiders in the manner they did proves they can win in tight matchups. It also gave them at least part of their second primary goal.

“It means everything to us. We had the doubters, we had all that,” said Galvin with music bumping in the locker room behind him. “It gave us the confidence. It feels good to win with all that doubt. I think we proved a lot of people wrong.”

There’s still the need to close it out and beat Pike Central, but North Posey is adamant about not looking too far ahead even with the Sectional Draw coming Sunday. The second objective on the list needs to be completed before the third can begin.

But Friday’s win makes things look pretty good in Poseyville.

“We’ve got a little tradition here and (Southridge has) a heck of a tradition where they’re at,” Schenk said. “Beating them means something. It’s a special thing.”