 |
Bellefontaine and Indian Lake both had winning streaks stopped with jolting losses last week. They are looking to rebound in their annual rivalry game Friday at Indian Lake.
The Chiefs’ postseason hopes took a big hit with a 34-0 loss to Springfield Shawnee in Week 9. However, it is not completely hopeless for Bellefontaine (6-3) entering the regular-season finale. It currently sits eighth in Division III, Region 11, with the top eight teams earning playoff berths.
Drew Pasteur, an expert on Ohio football computer ratings who runs a web site listing projections and probabilities, gives Bellefontaine a 31-percent chance of getting a playoff spot. The Chiefs need a win over the Lakers and also need a couple of teams around them to lose.
“We are playing for our playoff lives,” said Bellefontaine head coach Toby Smith. “We have to play accordingly. We need to play with a sense of urgency, play hard and play our brand of football.”
For Indian Lake (3-6), the focus is on getting back on track after a 35-0 loss to Urbana. That snapped the Lakers’ three-game winning streak, which followed an 0-5 start to the season.
“We have to continue to get better,” said Indian Lake head coach Dave Coburn.
“We knew we were getting better even when we didn’t have the wins to show for it.
We were able to put some wins together and that energized our batteries. We have to get back to doing the things we were doing well (prior to the Urbana loss).”
CHIEFTAIN PREVIEW, exclusively in Thursday’s Examiner.
CLICK HERE to subscribe today!
WEB EDITION STARTING AT $9.50 FOR 5 WEEKS!