It’s Rivalry Week in the Black Diamond Conference, and the Carmi-White County Bulldogs will face the Fairfield Mules for the 119th time this Friday Night at Harrington-Jeffries Stadium.
The Bulldogs enter the matchup coming off a tough 28-0 loss at home to Red Hill in Week 4, dropping their record to 1-3 on the season. Meanwhile, the Mules are still undefeated after picking up a 34-8 win at Sesser-Valier last Friday, improving to 4-0.
There’s no argument that Carmi has played the more difficult schedule so far this season, but Fairfield has certainly been impressive through its first four games. Coming into the season, there were plenty of questions about whether the Mules might take a step back, but they have answered those questions pretty quickly.
Fairfield opened the season with a 44-0 win at Edwards County, followed that up with a 16-12 win at Red Hill and then cruised to a 46-6 win over Eldorado before last week’s victory against the Red Devils.
A big reason for the Mules’ early success has been senior running back Michael Barner.
Barner led the BDC in rushing last season with 1,458 yards and 15 touchdowns, and he has picked up right where he left off. Despite missing Weeks 2 and 3, Barner currently sits second in the conference in rushing with 361 yards and five touchdowns. He had a huge game last week at Sesser, rushing for 267 yards and four touchdowns.
There’s no question that Carmi’s first job on defense Friday night will be trying to slow down No. 22.
“He’s electric. We are going to have to do a really, really good job defensively and play unselfish football,” said Carmi-White County Head Coach Clinton Wolff. “Our guys up front are going to have to get off the ball with a flat back and create piles, and our linebackers are going to have to read their keys and flow well. We’re going to have to tackle well.”
Of course, Barner isn’t the only weapon the Bulldogs will have to worry about. Senior Cooper Berg and junior Grant Otey will also get plenty of touches out of the Fairfield backfield.
Berg has rushed for 226 yards and four touchdowns this season while adding 73 receiving yards and a touchdown through the air. Otey has added 339 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Junior quarterback Alex Basnett is also running the show for the Mules. Fairfield hasn’t had to throw the ball very much this season, with Basnett attempting just 14 passes for 150 yards and three touchdowns.
The Mules have also taken a trip back to the 2010s, bringing back their foot-to-foot double-wing offense. It’s an offense that should look pretty familiar to Carmi, as it’s very similar to what the Bulldogs saw back in Week 1 against Johnston City.
As for Carmi, the Bulldogs are looking to put last week’s performance against Red Hill behind them and get back on track. Carmi managed just 162 yards of total offense in the loss, went 0-for-7 on third down and turned the ball over twice.
Through the first four weeks, the Bulldogs have yet to put together a complete four-quarter performance. Against an undefeated Fairfield team, it will take all three phases of the game and a full team effort if Carmi wants to come away with the win.
Of course, there’s a little extra meaning behind this one.
Friday night will mark the 119th all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and Mules. Carmi currently leads the series 61-51-6. The Bulldogs had won three straight in the rivalry before Fairfield snapped that streak with a 44-0 win last season in Fairfield.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM Friday night, although that time could be pushed back due to the heat.
Fans can watch and listen to Friday’s game on 97.3 FM WRUL and the WRUL Sports YouTube Channel.