“They’re always physical,” Big Blue coach Arvie Crouch said of Lakota West. “Coach (Tom) Bolden’s a tough guy, and he wants his team to be tough. They’re just like us. They’re going to execute their plays. They’ve got athletes all over the place — just like we do. So, it’s going to come down to who keeps their composure and makes plays and gets it rolling.”
The Firebirds (1-0) and the Big Blue (1-0) are coming off season-opening wins. Lakota West defeated St. Xavier 17-13, while Hamilton beat Badin 15-0.
“That game right there helps validate what you’re doing, and it says you’re moving in the right direction,” Bolden of his Firebirds’ win over the Bombers. “It was ugly at times — lot of times.
“You telling me that we’d have a blocked punt, three touchdowns called back and still beat St. X — it shows the kind of grit our kids have. We have a lot to clean up in order to make that jump. It’s cool for a coach to see that kind of grit.”
The Firebirds have won five straight against the Big Blue — including a 42-12 contest last season — and are 51-11 since Bolden took over in 2019.
The last time Hamilton beat Lakota West (27-7) was Oct. 27, 2017.
“Winning football comes to push and shove, I know that,” Bolden said. “I think we’ve got a pretty good chance of being good. We will just keep grinding it out, and the pieces will fall into play and the guys will step up.”
Both programs are playing with most of their starters from a season ago.
Senior Sam Wiles runs Lakota West’s offense at quarterback, while senior Antonio Mathis is the signal caller for Hamilton.
“The one thing I like from an offensive standpoint is that we have 10 guys who started back,” Bolden said. “You’ve got to like that. We’ve got a lot of experience coming back from the offensive perspective.”
Lakota West senior linebacker Grant Beerman wrapped up a GMC-best 13 tackles against St. Xavier a week ago. Hamilton Junior linebacker CJ Bryant had nine tackles against Badin.
Hamilton senior Gracen Goldsmith rushed for 95 yards and two scores against Badin.
“It’s a big game,” Crouch said of facing Lakota West, which has reached the Division I regional finals each of the last four seasons. “Last year we didn’t handle it well. We’re looking at this like another game. We can’t get caught up with all that stuff. We know we’re a good team. We know we’re a good program.
“We’ve got nothing to prove to anybody. We’re trying to play our best football. Our kids are locked in and focused. Our kids are confident. They aren’t trying to go out of their way to try and prove anything for anybody. They’ll just go out and do their job and do the best they can.”
Crouch said his Big Blue’s season-opening win over Badin was a momentum booster heading into their competitive conference schedule.
“It takes a lot of energy to be prepared, but that’s the way it is in this league — in every game,” Crouch said. “I think that was a great preparation game for us for our league. Badin’s a helluva team that plays with discipline. But we’ve got to play better. Lakota West is pretty good, but so are we.
“I just think we need to cut down on the penalties. We had a few too many penalties last week,” added Crouch, whose squad was flagged six times for 47 yards. “We’ve got to take care of the ball, and we did a good job of that last week. We’ve got to be prepared to execute our game plan. Our coaches have been working their tails off and have our guys ready to go.”
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