Knox Redskins won't underestimate conference foe Jimtown in sectionals rematch
STARKE COUNTY, Ind. -- This Friday marks another week of high school football in Michiana.
It's week one of postseason play for the Hoosier teams, so a loss Friday night means it's the end of the season.
This week's Game of the Week takes us to the 3A Sectional bracket; it's a rematch between the undefeated Knox Redskins and the 2-7 Jimtown Jimmies.
Knox Head Coach Russ Radtke says there's an extra layer of pressure that comes with being the only undefeated team left in the conference.
"The dangerous part is that you haven't lost a game and everybody's out to get you," Radtke says.
Radtke says simply being undefeated isn't good enough as his team heads into the postseason.
The Redskins travel to Baugo Friday to face 2-7 conference foe Jimtown for the second time.
When the two went head-to-head in Week 7, it ended with a 56-13 victory for Knox.
Radtke says underestimating the Jimmies won't do them any good.
"You're only going to get better by your competition," Radtke says. "Even though Jimtown's having a little trouble right now, and they haven't won as many games as they want, they're potent enough that they can win at any time. So, you've got to play very hard and aggressive, and this will make us better if we're lucky enough to win and they're surely going to give us a challenge."
"We can't underestimate them; we just have to keep doing our jobs right," says Knox senior outside linebacker/safety, Maddox Kinder.
The scenario he's in this week takes Radtke back to a frigid November night in 1985 when he was head coach at North Judson on a similar undefeated hot streak going into sectionals.
"We went to Jimtown with the number one team in the nation on defense, we went there undefeated, we went there with the perspective of thinking of being the number one team in the State of Indiana, that we're going to make a run to state, we got beat," remembers Radtke.
One thing that the 1985 team didn't have was a nation-leading rusher and an offensive line who knows how to make their 'back' Myles McLaughlin shine.
Friday's game could put him just a few hundred yards away from beating the all-time state rushing record of 10,867 yards.
The Redskins keep getting better and better each week because Radtke says they've never stopped the search for the 'perfect play'.
"I want all 11 doing it exactly right and even if you snap the ball at the 1-yard line, it goes 99 yards. That's the type of play we're working toward," says Radtke.
The 'win or go home' mentality also changes motivation especially when it comes to the seniors whose careers are on the line.
"This will be something I remember for the rest of my life," says Kinder.
"What we're saying to our seniors, as well as their seniors that are going to play, is give it the best game you can on both sides of the ball, and make sure that whatever falls, falls as a result of what you're not in control of," Radtke says.
This Knox team is on the hunt to break school history by even making it to a state championship.
They've gotten close a few times, especially in recent years, making it to semi-state in 2023 after an undefeated season under Radtke, but they have yet to make it down to Indianapolis to bring home the state championship trophy.