North Side-Hardin Co. is big in Region 6-4A

North Side football has had an up-and-down season so far this year, and the highest point so far probably came last week.

The Indians (2-2, 1-0 Region 6-4A) opened region play with a win on the road against longtime rival Lexington, 18-17.

Javonte Smith had a pair of touchdown runs in the fourth quarter that fueled the comeback, including the game-winner, which was a 40-yard run on fourth down and 11 yards to go.

North Side head coach Woodrow Lowe Jr. was proud of his team for the comeback win.

As proud as he was of the comeback, he was also proud of the way the defense held Lexington since that winning score came with five minutes remaining in the game.

But he knows the competition only picks up in region play from this point.

Hardin County comes to town Friday night, and the Tigers are undefeated at 4-0, which includes a region win over South Gibson two weeks ago.

One key part about this game is the winner of this game essentially clinches a berth in the Class 4A playoffs.

With six teams in the region, two wins all but guarantees a team is in the postseason. The only way that wouldn’t happen is if there were some ties for fourth place and the team were to lose those tie-breakers.

But halfway through the regular season, this game isn’t a must-win for either team, but it is an important game.

“Hardin County is one of those teams that always seem to have a good team that will always compete for a region championship and is always good enough to win one or two playoff games,” Lowe said when discussing the schedule before the season. “That’s the sign of a good program with good leadership at the top that knows how to maintain it at a high level and keep it going.”

Matthew Smith has been the head coach at Hardin County since 2011. In those previous 12 seasons under Smith, the Tigers have won five region championships and eight playoff games. They’ve made the postseason every year since 2012. They missed the playoffs in Smith’s first year leading with a 4-6 record.

Lowe hopes to see a big crowd show up at Thurman Reynolds Stadium for the matchup since it will be Hardin County’s first road game.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news