Tigers prepare for Clark County

It’s not quite David vs. Goliath, but Mark Twain figures to be heavy underdogs when it takes on Clark County tonight.
The Tigers enter the first round of the State playoffs sporting a 6-4 record and will be coming off a 29-6 loss to South Shelby last week. Clark County has marched through the regular season and still doesn’t have a blemish in the loss column. Despite not having coached against Clark County in his young coaching career, Matt Hudson is very familiar with the Indians.
“I know they’re big up front,” Mark Twain head coach Matt Hudson said. “I know they have won 25 games in a row. I know they are the defending state champions. I know that they beat several Clarence Cannon opponents and I know that they are pretty good.”
Clark County figures to provide a test for the Tigers on both sides of the ball. When the Indians have the ball, it will break out into a spread offense that is just as likely to pass as it is to run. The Indians can do both with equal skill. During the regular season, Clark County averaged 33.8 points per game.
“You just have to play strong, standard defense against them and be aggressive — be extremely aggressive,” Hudson said. “I think that might be the key to winning the ball game.”
Defensively, the Indians are just as stout. In ten games, Clark County surrendered a miniscule 49 points. The most points any team scored on the Indians in one game was 14 and four times this year the opposition failed to register just a single point.
Last week against South Shelby, Mark Twain had trouble moving the ball against the Cardinals early in the game and only managed to score a single touchdown. The Tigers just couldn’t seem to find traction in the pounding rain and slick track. The weather forecast for tonight’s game is rain-free which should allow the Tigers’ fleet of running backs to find its footing.
All season long Mark Twain has used its big, physical offensive line to run the ball. With Jared Runyon, Stephen Phillips and Skyler Jameson leading the rushing attack, Mark Twain racked up 244 points, or 24.4 per game. Before scoring just six on the Cardinals, Mark Twain put up games of 40, 34 and 28.
Being underdogs against the Indians means Hudson is planning on holding nothing back. Staring at the potential of a loss ending the season, Mark Twain is planning on opening up the playbook and giving Clark County a variety of looks — including some that no one else has seen.
“We’re definitely not going to hold anything back,” Hudson said. “I’m willing to try anything against them — throwing the ball, running the ball, trick plays, option, power running — pretty much, if my coaching staff and I can dream it up, we’re going to try it.”
When Mark Twain takes the field tonight it will break a streak 15 straight seasons without a playoff appearance. The last time the Tigers played in the postseason was 1993 and first-year coach Matt Hudson was suiting up for the blue and white as a running back and free safety. Hudson said that he’s excited about the return to the playoffs, but so is the community.
“I noticed the junior high kids — I’m a junior high science teacher — I noticed them asking questions about the football team, whereas earlier in the year they were not,” Hudson said. “People are starting to take notice.”
Hudson has helped turn around a program that had gone 12-39 since 2004. In the last two years combined, the Tigers won two District games and seven games overall. This year, the Tigers racked up six wins, including two in District play to help the team return to the playoffs.
“The pressure is really on them to repeat,” Hudson said. “I don’t even know if we were supposed to be in the playoffs. I felt like we were supposed to be in the playoffs, personally, and our kids felt like we should be in the playoffs and we are in the playoffs, which means we’ve played some good teams and played some quality football this year.”
The game will kickoff at 7 p.m. tonight at Clark County High School.