By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher, dispensed incredible knowledge on many subjects, ranging from science to politics, from economics to psychology. Yeah, but he knew nothing about football. Probably because he was 2,300 years ahead of his time.
Despite the span of centuries, his timeless wisdom still resonates. Some of his best insight even applies to Bedford North Lawrence as the Stars seek to bounce back from a rough opening to the 2024 campaign.
“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” In today’s informal, local LawCo slang, that means “learnin’ the hard way.” “Education is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” That means, on the field, lessons absorbed during a loss can lead to sweet wins later on. BNL got taught a lot, both during the 50-7 debut defeat against Martinsville and later in the film room. Neither the firsthand experience nor the second-look tape lies.
The question is how much the Stars learned and how quickly they can apply the lessons when they tangle with Bloomington North on Friday night.
BNL coach Derrick Barker verified, in the film session, what his eyes revealed during the live look. The Stars, lacking experience, were guilty of multiple mistakes. They paid for them. When good teams play well, and young teams do not, the result is predictable.
“A lot of mistakes, a lot of things,” Barker said. “Not being lined up right defensively, not putting ourselves in a great position to execute. We had some good plays, but not enough stacked in a row. So we took a lot of learning from it. It was a bad game, but we’re going to learn from it, take those lessons and move forward. At the end of the day, we made too many mistakes.”
The Cougars (0-1) have the identical mantra this week. Two fumbles and 11 penalties were glaring reasons North dropped a 30-27 decision to Mooresville in its opener. New North head coach Anthony Lindsey, a 2004 North alum and former quarterback, pointed to the same issues for his ballclub’s demise. More games are lost than won, former baseball manager Casey Stengel once said. And he was right.
“If players are fumbling and jumping offsides, they simply are a liability to the team and they cannot be on the field,” Lindsey said. “Those are unacceptable and a big reason why we lost last week.”
Where does BNL begin? The Stars managed a mere minus-23 rushing yards, and gave up 255 rushing yards against the Artesians. The most basic football concept? Run the ball, stop the run, win the game. Works at every level.
“The biggest thing is more physicality on the line of scrimmage on both sides,” Barker said. “We have to be able to hold up on the line. We have to be able to run the ball, open up some holes, move the ball that way, and we have to be able to stop the run.
“In the passing game, we made plays, so now it’s adding to that and getting to the second level.”
BNL did show promise in the pass game as Dayson Kirby went 15 of 22 for 198 yards, and a touchdown in the running-clock second half, while Dax Short caught 6 passes and Driven Axsom had 80 yards receiving.
North, which allowed 244 passing yards to Mooresville, has multiple offensive weapons, starting with veteran quarterback Dash King, a three-year starter. He threw for 159 yards last week, and added 98 rushing yards on 14 carries, while running back Noah Ferree scored three times.
“Dash is the leader of this football team,” Lindsey said. “He has a lot of experience under Friday night lights, so we lean on him to be the coach on the field, especially with running a new offense and getting everyone where they need to be. He is the ultimate competitor and all he wants to do is win. He doesn’t care what his stat line is at the end of the game.”
“King is very good in the pass game and the run game,” Barker said. “He’s a weapon throwing the ball, but if receivers are covered we have to know where he is, he’ll extend the play. And we have to do a much better job tackling than we did last week. We need to keep the ball in front of us and not give up the explosive play. They have some dangerous weapons that we have to keep in check.
“There was no warm-up time for Martinsville. We were going right into the fire, and this week as well. They will come in with a bad attitude. They’re a lot like us, where they played a good team, with a new coach and system, and there were bugs to get worked out. When they play well, they’re a really good team.”
King was a key in last year’s clash with BNL, completing 16 of 28 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns, plus running for another. He connected with tight end Aidan Steinfeldt for two fourth-quarter scores as North rallied for a 21-14 victory on a sizzling hot night with a dangerous heat index. BNL quarterback Memphis Louden ran for 92 yards and had the Stars in position for a huge road victory, but he left with extreme cramps midway through the third quarter, and BNL could not recover. North also forced four turnovers (with Camden Eaton picking off two passes and recovering a fumble).
“BNL concerns are they’re coming off of a big loss to Martinsville and are hungry for redemption after last year’s game with us being so close,” Lindsey said. “BNL has some nice skilled players that can make some big plays.”
North has won 15 of the last 16 games in the series.
BLOOMINGTON NORTH at BNL
Kickoff: Friday, 7 p.m.
Records: Bloomington North 0-1; BNL 0-1
Coaches: Anthony Lindsey, 0-1 in first year at North; Derrick Barker, 17-16 in fourth year at BNL
Series: North leads 22-14
Last meeting: Last year at North, the Cougars rallied in the fourth quarter to clip the Stars 21-14. Aidan Steinfeldt had two touchdown catches, including the game winner with 18 seconds left. Dash King threw for 140 yards for North. BNL’s Memphis Louden ran for 92 yards before leaving in the third quarter with severe cramps from the heat.
Previous game story: In the heat of the night, Cougars claw back
Game notes: North has won 15 of the last 16 games in the series. BNL’s only win in that span was a 55-38 triumph in 2018.
