Northside football hosts Cairo with high stakes in region

The No. 2 seed in Region 1-4A will likely be decided in Kinnett Stadium on Friday night.

The 8 p.m. showdown between Northside (7-1, 4-1) and Cairo (5-3,4-1) looks destined to determine who hosts a playoff game and who has to hit the road once the postseason begins. Northside head coach Morgan Ingram said his team recognizes the high stakes and also understands any region matchup promises to be a big one.

Ingram said the team is finally getting healthy after what has been a long stretch of games. The starting right side of the Northside offensive line was unavailable in the team’s 7-0 win over Shaw last Thursday, as Christian Gilbert and Jason Webb were sidelined with injury. The duo is expected to be back Friday, as is linebacker John Tucker, who has been dealing with a shoulder issue.

The timing couldn’t be better for Northside with a dangerous Cairo team coming to Columbus. The Syrupmakers have won four of their last five games and are fresh off a 39-6 blowout victory over Westover.

“The No. 1 thing that stands out (about Cairo) is how technically and schematically sound they are,” Ingram said. “They’ve got very good personnel, but they don’t just jump off the page. They’re very well coached, and they’re very good at what they do offensively and defensively.”

Ingram compared Cairo to Northside in the fact that they try to be multi-dimensional offensively. The Syrupmakers do a good job of getting the ball to different players, making it harder to focus on one playmaker and simply shut him down. With that type of offense to face, Ingram said it’s a matter of being sound fundamentally on defense.

“It’s going to be a matter of not making mistakes and not having breakdowns in our scheme and our technique,” Ingram said. “We’ve just got to play well, do our assignments and play with great energy.”

Ultimately, Ingram said physicality is the key to Friday’s matchup. The Patriots have shown plenty of toughness throughout the 2017 season, but the game against Cairo pits Northside against one of the most talented teams in the region.

Northside has had its share of battles this season, but none may prove more important than this one.

“We’ve got to match their physicality,” Ingram said. “We’ve had a couple of games this year where we had to play that way. It’s the next one, and we’ve got to step up.”

This story was originally published October 26, 2017 at 4:10 PM with the headline "Northside football hosts Cairo with high stakes in region."