LONDON — Allen Mitchell’s South Laurel Cardinals are looking to get back track after suffering their worst loss of the season last week against district foe Pulaski County.
The Cardinals (4-2 overall, 0-1) was handed a 41-6 setback, and now hopes to even their district record this week against cross-town rival North Laurel.
“Always disappointed in a loss, but it was how we lost that disappointed me the most,” Mitchell said. “We did not compete, which is more concerning to me than the loss. We have competed hard in every game and I did not have our guys ready, so I have to of a better job of preparing our guys. We will get it fixed and get ready for another tough game this week.”
South Laurel is looking to secure its second straight win over the Jaguars.
North Laurel had won the game last season, 43-0, but would later have to forfeit due a self reported incident of using an ineligible player, leading to a 1-0 Cardinal win.
Before that, South Laurel had lost three in a row against the Jaguars, and 11 of its last 12 against its crosstown counter parts along with 15 straight contests against district opponents.
“It has been a while since we have won a district game, so it is very important to go out and play well,” Mitchell said. “We still have all of our goals out in front of us so we just have to attack every day with a relentless pursuit and we will be fine. “Everything played between South and North is a big game in our county and there is a lot of bragging rights to go with it for a year, so it is big to our kids and our community,” he added. “I think everyone is disappointed in our performance and our kids will want to get back out on the field as soon as possible.”
Despite last week’s loss, Mitchell believes his team will be ready Friday.
“We have a good football team and our kids know that we did not play to our standards, so they will be ready to play come Friday,” he said. “North is a well-coached football team that plays to their strengths which is great on defense and a physical offensive attack that is difficult to hold in check.
“We are going to have to find ways to generate some offense against their defense and play great defense ourselves,” Mitchell added. “I just want to get back to playing the way we did in the first part of the season and if we will then we have a chance to win.”
Kick-off is scheduled at The Jungle for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
