Mishawaka Cavemen ready to battle St. Joseph for Sectional Championship hardware

MISHAWAKA, Ind. -- It's Friday, and that means it's another night of high school football in Michiana.

The remaining Hoosier teams are playing in the Sectional Championship game this week.

ABC57's Game of the Week is a battle between two 10-1 heavyweights, as the Mishawaka Cavemen host the St. Joseph Huskies.

Mishawaka Head Coach Keith Kinder says he expects it to be a competitive, hard-fought battle.

"Our kids are competitors, and they want to win football games," says Kinder.

That competitive mindset has carried this 10-1 Mishawaka team through the first two weeks of the postseason, and now they play for the hardware in the Sectional Championship.

The only thing in their way is a fellow 10-1 St. Joseph Huskies squad.

Kinder says his team's mental game has a lot to do with their success.

"Last week at halftime we were down 17-7 and you know, lesser mentally tough teams would've folded, our kids didn't, and we were able to figure out a way to win the game," Kinder says.

The Cavemen will take the field Friday night with their dependable offensive strategy in their back pocket.

Their Wing-T has left them scoring more than 20 points in every single game this season, and Kinder knows what it's like to be on the other side of that ball.

"We think that it gives us an advantage because it's a challenge to prepare for," explains Kinder. "It takes a lot of time, effort, and energy for an opponent to prepare for us because we have to face it when we play Warsaw, we play Wawasee, so we know how hard it is to prepare for." 

The defense will need to kick it into gear to match the Huskies' dominant ball control.

Senior linebacker Ken Clemente says the key will be to rally to the football.

"That's our main emphasis for most of the games, but this game, since they have speed, we just need to run to the football and we'll be fine, if we run to the football. And physical, we just have to play physical," says Clemente.

With a team made of 20 seniors, there's a lot more on the line than a trophy Friday.

It could be the last time this class plays on their home turf at Steele Stadium.

"It fuels me honestly, like it just makes me work harder, it makes me teach my teammates more, it helps me stay motivated," says Clemente.

"They're not ready to stop playing football," Kinder says. "They understand the realistic situation they're in, which is if they're not successful, they're done." 

Kinder expects a well-balanced matchup that will rely on the fundamentals, with the recipe to success: limiting mistakes.

"I anticipate it being a low possession game, where there are not a lot of possessions in the game," Kinder explains. "Whoever makes the fewest mistakes is going to have a chance at winning the game."