Fighting Irish set to face Benton for bragging rights
By Jacob Meikel
Lafayette football has the latest bragging rights over its rival in the Benton Cardinals, as the two teams are set to square off on Friday.
The Fighting Irish have already matched their win total from a year ago. At 1-1, it’s their best start to a season since 2020. In their win against Center on Aug. 30, it marked the first shutout victory for the program since 2019. As second-year coach Nate Daugherty continues to implement his culture with the program, he’s noticed a change in attitude amongst the players. He says players used to argue coming off the field during games, but it’s quite the opposite now.
“Just seeing the kids love being around each other, love each other and not not kind of tearing each other down has been awesome,” Daugherty said.
Senior players have been through the trials and tribulations of playing for Lafayette football over the last couple of years as it’s making its return from the ashes. Just one win is all the program has to show for the last two seasons, and for senior Tate Crabb, he and the team have made a mindset change.
“Eventually you just get fed up with losing and I think everybody figured that out,” Crabb said. “What feels different to me is the effort and everybody’s bought in.”
As the team has their eyes set on a showdown with rival Benton, there’s only respect among the two schools. Daugherty says the typical fun chirping is had between the two sides as one would expect, but other than that, “it’s all friendly.” Lafayette senior JaVonte Simms knows this rivalry well having faced the Cardinals throughout his career.
“Typically there’s good sportsmanship throughout the game, it’s just a big rivalry sport. We’re the northside, they’re the southside, so it’s just a big rivalry,” Simms said.
Lafayette owns the latest bragging rights against Benton as they won last year’s contest at Sparks Field. The Fighting Irish have also owned the series by having won seven of the last eight years they’ve faced Benton.
