Cards-Jags: A contrast in styles

Both teams coming off big wins last week

By Tim Branstetter

There is no better way to start the football season than cross-town rivals facing off in week two after watching each other kick off the year with a win in the Cumberland Valley Bowl.

And that’s what will happen tonight, when North Laurel travels across town to take on South Laurel at 7:30 p.m.

Both teams feel they can win the game and both have a good reason, but that is were the similarities end. While South Laurel kicked off their season by putting on a passing clinic against Covington Holy Cross in a high scoring 49-35 affair, North Laurel pounded out an 18-8 victory over Lawrence County with a strong ground game.

“It appears that way more so than it is,” South Laurel coach Jason Chappell said. “Adrian Wardrup has an extremely strong arm and can throw the ball. He has a cannon for an arm. We have some talented backs and we know we have to run the ball to be successful.”

North Laurel coach David Abbott knows the Cardinals can put up big numbers through the air, but understands they have to respect the run game.

“Steven Quillen runs like a deer,” Abbott said. “They can run the ball. Ricky Bowling not only throws the ball, he can take it to the house.”

Although Chappell respects the arm of Wardrup he understands the Jaguars’ offensive strength focuses around the physical play of their line and the hard nose running from their backs like Steven White and Hughie Wagers.

“They run a lot of formations and they are very good upfront,” Chappell said. “They are real physical and their backs run the ball strong. They like to punish people when they run the ball.”

The Cardinals, on the other hand, look to put the ball in the air and their senior quarterback Bowling has made a name for himself doing just that. Bowling tossed five touchdowns last week in a pretty normal day at the office.

“Ricky is an excellent quarterback and an excellent young man,” Abbott said. “He throws the ball very well and he also runs the ball well. He is running the ball better than ever. He makes them very difficult to plan for.”

Bowling has several options when looking down the field and last week it was Jake Cobb on the receiving end with a huge game including three touchdown catches. Quillen hauled in two touchdown catches.

Although Chappell plans on approaching every game the same, he admits playing the cross-town rivals always gets the kids fired up and the fans excited.

“We are going to approach every game the same,” Chappell said. “But I would be lying if I said it didn’t mean anything to the kids. It is big game and both teams want to play hard and want to represent the county and their school. It is a good rivalry and it gets the fans excited.”

Abbott agreed.

“It’s exciting,” Abbott said. “Regardless of records, this is always a big game, but both teams have high expectations coming off a win. The kids are focused and chomping at the bit to get back out there.”

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