The Carmi-White County Bulldogs will hit road once again this Friday night as they head to Fairfield to take on the Mules in Week 5 of the Illinois High School Football season. It’s a big test for the Bulldogs who are sitting at 0-4 after last week’s 22-8 loss to Red Hill. Not only is CWC looking for their first win, but at loss will eliminate them from playoff contention.
Last Saturday’s game against Red Hill didn’t go the Bulldogs’ way on the scoreboard, but there were at least a few positives. The defense played one of their better games of the year, holding Red Hill to just 22 points and forcing them into mistakes. The Bulldogs came away with one takeaway and managed to stop the Salukis on all three of their 4th down tries.
Offensively, the Bulldogs struggled at Red Hill, but a large part of that contributed to the injuries that continue to pile up for the Maroon & White. Cooper Hill didn’t play against the Salukis due to a concussion, and both Dakota Brown and Jazz Duckworth were knocked out of the game in the 1st half due to injuries. Hill, Brown, and Duckworth are the top three leading rushers for Carmi, and all three are not expected to play on Friday.
The injury bug didn’t stop there. Starting lineman Dakota Southerd also suffered a concussion, which means Carmi will have to rely on some younger players to step up. Sophomores Josh Mendenhall, Ian Goemaat, and Christian Fields are all expected to rotate in at right tackle to fill Southerd’s spot.
The Bulldogs have also shuffled things around in the backfield due to injuries. Sophomore Branson Burnett will move from left tight end to fullback, joining fellow sophomores Kyzen Edwards and Cole Evans in the backfield. Edwards and Evans combined for 62 rushing yards last week, expect them to see a lot more carries while Hill, Brown, and Duckworth are sidelined. With Burnett moving to the backfield, senior Josyah Perez will step in at the left tight end spot.
“It’s a next man up mentality,” said CWC Head Coach Clinton Wolff. “Although this is not the situation we would prefer, this is the hand we have been dealt. We are very excited about our younger kids, and although throwing them into the fire isn’t exactly how we wanted to help develop them, several of them will get their chance this week.”
On the other side, Fairfield comes into this matchup with a 3-1 record. The Mules suffered their first loss of the season last week against Sesser-Valier, but they’ve still been one of the stronger teams in the Black Diamond Conference. Fairfield has gone back to its bread and butter this season, the foot-to-foot double wing offense that gave them so much success throughout the 2010s. It’s a hard-nosed, run-heavy attack, and right now they rank second in the conference in rushing, behind only Johnston City.
Michael Barner (#22) is the 2nd leading rusher in the BDC. He has 618 yards on 62 carries with 7 rushing touchdowns. He has elite speed, and the Mules want to get him on the outside. Logan Tullis returns for the Red & Black after suffering a torn ACL last season. Tullis (#32) has 292 yards on 52 carries with 2 touchdowns. Cooper Berg (#36) and Keegan Downen (#5) round out the Mules backfield as they have combined for 235 yards and 3 touchdowns between the two.
Fairfield also has one of the more athletic quarterbacks in the conference, Jude Carter (#2). Although they will be mainly in the foot-to-foot, they can spread things out with Carter. He has thrown the ball 24 times this year for 178 yards and 3 touchdowns, but he did throw two costly interceptions in the 2nd half of last week’s loss against Sesser. Carter has ran with the ball 14 times for 76 yards.
For the Bulldogs, the key will be trying to slow down that powerful Mule rushing attack and finding some consistency on offense despite all the injuries. It’s not going to be an easy challenge, but this group has shown fight even in tough spots. If the defense can build off last week’s effort and the younger players can step up, the Bulldogs will have a shot.
“Fairfield will do their best to pound you out of their foot to foot double wing and their defense has proven to be very tough this year,” said Wolff. “It will be extremely important for our offense to grind out possessions and execute on 3rd and 4th downs to keep the chains moving.”
Friday’s game will be the 118th meeting between the Bulldogs and the Mules. Carmi has won 61 matchups versus Fairfield’s 50 wins, and the two teams have tied 6 times. The Bulldogs have won the last three meetings, that came after Fairfield won nine straight matchups (2013-2021).
Fans who can’t make the road trip to Fairfield on Friday will be able to watch and listen to the game on 97.3 FM WRUL and the WRUL Sports YouTube Channel. Kickoff is set for 7 PM.