article Collins Notebook 10-7-14

Friday night was a big night for Collins. Not only was it their homecoming night where they crowned their 5th queen and saw many former students return to their alma mater, but their football team played rival Spencer County for a game that would all but decide the district champion, especially if Spencer County won. After Spencer County’s surprise win over North Oldham, a win over the Titans would’ve given the Bears their first district championship in school history with only Waggener and Atherton standing in their way. With Collins starting out the season 2-3, the Bears rightfully thought they had a great chance at taking control of the district away from the Titans, however, Collins wasn’t ready to give up their reign over this district just yet. In their current district Collins has never lost a district game and have only lost one district game ever, 30-27 at Marion County in their very first season. Collins has won a district championship in every season they have ever played and Friday night they showed they weren’t ready to give up that streak just yet, defeating the Bears 20-7 in a game that they controlled throughout.

Collins' offense still struggled, with quarterback Browning Becherer throwing 3 interceptions in the first half alone. However, Collins’ defense more than made up for it, picking off 5 Spencer County passes and returning those for a total of 80 yards. Their run defense was suffocating as well, holding a high-powered run offense to only 142 yards. The week before running back Logan Holbrook ran for double that amount on his own against North Oldham. Collins played without 3 of their normal defensive starters including their leading tackler but you would’ve never known it the way the Titans swarmed to the ball the entire game. Senior Jackson Ellis and Freshman Jay Becherer lead the Titans with 13 tackles each, while Junior Bennett Becherer and Freshman Nick Eades added 12 apiece. Offensively, EJ Burk caught 2 passes for 2 touchdowns and Gabe Nash rushed 1 time for a touchdown on a reverse.

This Friday night the Titans will welcome undefeated Central Hardin to Titan Stadium. It will be senior night for the Titans but also a very tough matchup to prepare Collins for the 4A playoffs. Last year Collins lost at Central Hardin 36-32 which ended up being their final loss of the 2013 season. This year Central Hardin has been impressive once again, led by junior RB Xavier Arnette who is averaging over 100 yards a game. Quarterback Koree Krupinski is back this year and has done damage on the ground and through the air. Junior linebacker Seth Bryan has lead the Bruins defense this year. Central Hardin will prove to be a very tough test for the Titans and should help Collins prepare for their final 2 district matchups and a possible playoff run.

Collins has been playing up in class all year. It is a different team than what anyone saw the first 3 weeks. I feel this is almost a must games for the titans. The district could come down to the 3 way tiebreaker and Collins really needs some points. Going to be a rainy night in the ville and I look for a low scoring game. I think the rain will play into the titans hands. They have been really great on run defense and the rain should control the passing game. If Collins was the passing team of old, then I would be really worried about the weather. 14-7 Collins is my new pick.