North at South football: 5 things to watch in battle for Bloomington

Sadly, it's not the only game in town Friday night.

It should be, but on the north side of town, television has mandated Indiana be in action against Indiana State at the same time. On the south side, Bloomington South takes on North in a battle of undefeated, state-ranked Class 5A football teams at 7 p.m.

So, North grads Aaron Steinfeldt, Reece Lozano, Race Stewart and Xavier Trueblood and South's James Bomba on the IU sideline and South's Maddox Blackwell and Tyree Rochell on ISU's, will be otherwise distracted this evening as their alma maters go at it for the 63rd time. Maybe they'll be free for the 64th if it happens at this year's sectional.

In any case, South leads the series, 48-14, with a five-game win streak. South is ranked No. 2 in both coaches and media polls with North No. 9 in the IFCA poll and No. 5 in the AP.

Here's what will make the difference for both teams:

South's defense remains stout

Panthers are the only team to hold North to single digits in a game since 2018 and did it twice last year. This group has shown how dominant it can be and its speed to the ball is something to see. But the Cougars' offense will certainly be the best it's faced so far.

The bulk of North's offense has been through the air with Dash King throwing for 585 yards and the ground game averaging 126 yards per contest. South has been able to keep North's rushers in check of late, while also getting good pressure on the QBs, making it extremely hard for the Cougars to put scoring drives together.

Still, look back to Week 1 when North had success against Mike Gillen's Mooresville defense. The Cougars will have to run the ball consistently to have a chance. South's defense has given up just 101 ground yards total this season. Yikes.

Turnover, penalty battle

South has yet to turn the ball over this year as Alley is interception-free in 50 attempts while throwing for 559 yards and nine scores.

North will need to play as it did last week, turnover-free, just three penalties, and not like it did in Week 2 against Bedford North Lawrence when it shot itself in the foot more than once.

Keeping the hankies off the field will be big. It's just not worrying about the emotions that run high, leading to unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. The O-lines will have their hands full with physical, talented edge rushers and good linebackers, so which group can best hold its blocks while avoiding drive-killing holding calls?

Quarterback battle

Enjoy it. It should be a good one. Alley has been on fire, completing 78% of his passes, and has shown he's a willing runner when he has to be. He has big playmakers in D'Andre Black, Lucas Walden and Alex Shaevitz, who will go up against an experienced, athletic North secondary that's picked off six passes already this season.

North's front will have to find a way to get Alley out of rhythm, but his quick, strong release makes that tough.

On the other side, King is connecting at a 62% rate and he has been a physical runner, especially in the red zone where he rushed for four scores. He too has plenty of good targets in Cole Grupenhoff, Tate Bless, Jack Leonard and all-state tight end Aiden Steinfeldt, who is always a threat around the end zone.

To make it happen, North's offensive line has to have a strong night against a speedy, physical front seven. Martinsville and Columbus East each threw for 200-plus yards against the Panthers' secondary but totaled just 17 points.

Another North rally?

North uses a lot of bodies and has been the stronger team in the fourth quarter the past two weeks, but it would be tough to count on that this time if they fall behind by more than two scores.

Perseverance and belief are one thing, but if the Cougars fall behind as they've done against BNL and Terre Haute South, the road back will be far steeper than it has been. South has forced a running clock (35-point lead or more in the second half) every game this year so they haven't been tested for all 48 minutes this season.

North has been and it's found a way to win each time. That says something.

North has to be ready for a flurry early. The Panthers start quickly, they won't let up and their running game seems perfectly capable of draining the clock late if it's close.

Really special teams

Both squads will have potent special teams players they'll count on to score and flip field position.

South's Bryce Taylor has a monster leg. His kickoffs often find the end zone, he's a solid punter and he's good on field goals from 50 yards out. Waldon, Black, Drew Crum-Hieftje are all dangerous return men.

North has had its usual place kicker Noah Nelson for just one game this year, but he's listed on the two-deep for this week's game. Graham Freund has handled those duties in addition to averaging 40 yards per punt. Taylor's leg could negate Grupenhoff and Stephon Opoku, who ran a kickoff back 96 yards for a score against THS last week, but they'll have a chance on punts to race the speedy Panthers.

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on X (Twitter) @JimGordillo.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: North at South football: 5 things to watch in battle for Bloomington