PROSPERITY — It’s time for rivals to face off tonight as the Newberry High Bulldogs take on the Mid-Carolina Rebels. The Bulldogs are currently 6-3 overall and 3-1 in region play.

If the Bulldogs win tonight, this will be their 15th regional championship in team history. The Rebels are 0-9 overall and 0-4 in region play.

Mid-Carolina Football Coach Louie Alexander is continuing to work on getting the team better up front, along with tackling and blocking better.

“It’s week 10 and we’ve still got nothing. Working on the fundamentals is what we’re trying to do,” he said. “Practice this week has been up and down. The kids know it’s the last week and even though you’d like for them to be on their A-game every day, it’s just like any other week we’ve had this year.

We’ve had some really good spots and some really bad spots. It goes back to consistency and we haven’t been very consistent in anything this year so that’s the big thing right now that we’re fighting for,” Alexander added. “Newberry’s offense and defense are very good. Defensively, they’re very solid. They’re very good at mixing coverages and they’re big up front on the defensive line. They’re a very well coached team.”

To bring home a win tonight, Alexander said the team will need to focus on sustaining drives offensively.

“That’s going to be the big thing for us this week, putting drives together. Ultimately, they get tired and it’s not because of the shape that we’re in, we just haven’t been able to sustain any drives,” he said.

Newberry Football Coach Phil Strickland is also preparing his team for tonight’s faceoff.

“We’ve had a good week of practice,” he said. “The kids have been really focused. They realize that the region championship is on the line and they’re excited because they’re playing their rival. I hope that we just stay focused throughout the game.

“We realize that Mid-Carolina has a really potent offense and they move the ball against everybody. They just haven’t been able to score points and we want to try to keep that from happening tonight,” he added. “They’re not as bad a what their record shows. They move the football really well, they’re just having a little trouble stopping people. I’m sure we’re going to get their A-game.”

Newberry’s offense and defense are also shaping up for tonight’s game.

“We’re looking pretty good,” Strickland said. “We’re getting a lot healthier and got just about everybody healthy and ready to go. We’ve gotten some bumps and bruises the last couple of weeks, but I feel like we healed up pretty nicely.”

If the Bulldogs want to win the region championship, Strickland said the team will have to continue to not give up big plays on offense and to maintain control of the ball.

The Bulldogs will be traveling to Mid-Carolina High School tonight for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

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By Kelly Duncan

kduncan@civitasmedia.com

Reach Kelly Duncan at 803-768-3123 ext. 1868, or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.