BENTON CARDINALS GAME OF THE WEEK

By Calvin Silvers

It’s Week 2 of the high school football season, and News-Press NOW’s Game of the Week features two in-city rivals, the Benton Cardinals and the Central Indians.

This will be the third straight season these two teams have faced each other on the gridiron, and the Cardinals are hoping to take the bragging rights for a year. They enter the week with a 1-0 record, defeating Northeast (Kansas City) by a score of 62-12, making it their third straight season-opening win.

“We did a really good job owning the line of scrimmage,” head coach Corey Bertini said. “That was a big piece of the challenge for the O and D-line in the summer and going into the season, so they did a really good job.”

However, it’s a new week, and the opponent standing in front of a 2-0 start is the Indians, a team the Cardinals have lost to the past two seasons. Despite the game being a Class 3 versus Class 5 contest, Benton wants valuable experience for the team.

“I want to play the best teams in the state because when we get that opportunity to play them, then that forces our guys to have to rise to that level of competition,” Bertini said. “I know our guys are excited, I’m excited and yeah, we’ll see how it goes Friday.”

Going against a Class 5 opponent opens the opportunity to go against the best talent the state has to offer, and that’s not different with Central’s Gabe Fields, an SEC running back commit.

It’s not just Fields the team has to worry about, as Central provides a lot of speed.

“He’s a phenomenal player and coach Farrell does a great job with all their guys offensively, skill player-wise too,” Bertini said. “You know, I’m just challenging our guys to get the right spots, get aligned, know your assignment, and go play ball.

“Their speed, they’re pretty big, they’ve got some speed, so keep them inside and play how we’re supposed to be and come out to play,” sophomore Boston Cook said.

With a rival coming into your stadium, you never want to leave the field with a loss, meaning Benton’s practices have been ramped up. In fact, it’s something the team has hung their hat on all week.

“It’s been fast tempo, you know, we got to get ready, big game,” Cook said. “Everyone is, you know, no funny business, just locking in and getting what we need.”

While playing under those lights can be stressful, the players are thankful for an opportunity to represent the Southside.

“You want to show out for the team but at the end of the day, you know, you just got to go out there, it’s another football game,” Cook said. “You got to have fun, show up for the crowd and just play football.”