Next up for undefeated Indian Land football: Defending state champ Northwestern

The South Carolina 5A Region 3 title will be on the line when unbeaten Indian Land visits District 3 Stadium, where the Northwestern Trojans will be waiting, on Friday night.

Both the Warriors and Trojans are a perfect 5-0 in region play. Indian Land is undefeated at 9-0 overall while the Trojans have dropped just one game to rival South Pointe in early September. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday.

While every coach wants their teams to achieve more than region titles, the head coaches from both teams believe this is a game with a lot of magnitude.

“It would be huge to win (a region title),” Indian Land coach Adam Hastings said. “It would be a great way to encapsulate what has been a really special year for us. We have really great kids and are just really proud of what they have built. But, we try not to keep our focus on the outcome of the game. We just want to win the week. That is what we have done all year and it has worked well for us. I told our guys that we are fortunate to be in a spot to play in a big game, but they are all going to be big games from here on out.”

Said Northwestern coach Page Wofford: “It’s good for our program. It shows we are where we want to be. You know, this is the most important game of the year for us, because it’s our next game. We tell the kids that. It shows that we’re doing the right things in our program to be consistently in the hunt for the region championships. We’re doing the right things. We are putting (the kids) in the right position. Our development and our program as a whole is very strong.”

Indian Land’s defense is one of the strongest in the state and has held opponents to an average of 7.9 points per game while only giving up double-digit scoring twice all season. The Warriors also have three shutouts. Wofford said it is going to be a massive test going against the Warriors’ defense.

“That defensive front is as good as probably the best one we’ve seen all year,” Wofford said of Indian Land. Just across the board with them; they have really good linebackers that can run. And then they have corners, probably the best. And I tell the kids the same thing, they’ve got the best defensive backfield as a whole that we will have gone against up to this point. They are just really, really well coached. They line up, then they get after you. So they’ve really put together a good squad over there.”

While this may be one of the best defenses the Trojans (8-1) will have seen, on the flip side, this will also be the best offensive unit that Indian Land will have seen. Since falling to South Pointe in September, Northwestern has yet to score under 45 points in a game, scoring 50 or more, three times and producing one 75-point game. The Trojans are averaging 48.4 points per game.

“(Northwestern) can put up points in a hurry,” Hastings said, “and put them up in high numbers. And I think the one thing that kind of gets lost a little bit in their record statistically, it’s not just the fact they score a lot on offense, but they can score on defense and special teams. So we know we have to eliminate those extra points in those facets, because I think that’s something they’ve done a great job with all year, and, yeah, it’s going to be a great test for us in everything. Our defense has played really well this year, and I know defensively, those guys are excited about the opportunity.”

Both teams are going to be vying to win a state championship, but for Indian Land, this would mean a little more, given that Northwestern beat them twice last season. Wofford knows this and is making sure his Trojans know it as well.

“We know we’re going to get their best shot,” Wofford said. “You kind of want their best shot. You don’t want a team to have some kind of fluky stuff going on. You want them to play their best so you can kind of challenge yourself. Our kids like the challenge. We have a very tough non-conference schedule that we went through. And then our conference has really improved this year, with some really good teams. That’s a testament to our conference and our coaching staff here in this area. Indian Land has run right through them. So, we’re going to play a really good football team on Friday night.”