Prep Football: Getting Back In The Hunt

Riding a two-game winning streak, Harrisburg hopes to keep the bus moving and even their season record Friday in a rivalry game with Benton at Taylor Field.

Harrisburg (3-2) will take on a Benton ballclub that fell to West Frankfort last Saturday, giving the Bulldogs optimism as they go for a third straight win.

Benton knocked off Harrisburg 30-7 a year ago and has won two of the last three meetings between the two schools.

On the flip side, Harrisburg head coach Jason Roper is 6-2 against the Rangers, who haven't won at Taylor Field dating back to 2004.

"We have some confidence," Roper said. "We felt like last week we came out with the energy we needed and it was a big deal for us to be playing back at home. The home crowd was huge was for us and I think it helped that it was Homecoming."

Friday night will also be Harrisburg's Pink Out game, where the Bulldogs will wear purple jerseys with pink letting and numbers and Roper is hoping for more of the same.

He's also hoping a new offense will be just as potent as it was in last week's win over Massac County.

The Wildcat offense, highlighted with Corbin Crim, proved to be the difference for the Bulldogs who have experimented with a number of offenses the first four weeks of the season.

Roper said It doesn't look regular QB starter Noah Vallette is going to be 100 percent Friday, still suffering an ankle injury and Roper will opt with Corbin Crim running the Wildcat.

"I thought he played pretty well there last week," Roper said of Crim. "I think we have found something running that offense and in previous weeks, working out of the straight-T or I-wing wasn't working as well for us. It allowed us to get our faster kids the ball and last week four different kids had the ball and a lot of carries."

Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.