Highlanders look to continue momentum into postseason play
Published 12:57 am Friday, November 8, 2019
1 of 1
File Photo/Ivan Sanders Jed Childress will have to play a big role defensively for Cloudland to come out on top in tonight's playoff game at Orr Field.
BY AUSTIN ALEXANDER
STAR CORRESPONDENT
This past Friday, the Cloudland Highlanders rolled into Sullivan County underdogs but left winners.
Sullivan North, a classification above and sitting on a 5-4 record quite simply let the Highlanders hang around for too long.
The matchup eventually pushed into overtime where Cloudland would pick up the win and look to use this momentum for their playoff push.
When Cloudland decided to make its coaching change midway through the season, the Highlanders sat at an abysmal 1-4. With little time to make changes, Coach Scott Potter was able to flip the switch for the Highlanders as they would push on to go 4-1 over their last 5, winning their conference and setting themselves up with a nice playoff path.
What sparked such a radical change? Coach Potter says the root of it isn’t him, but in his senior leadership.
“They had immediate buy-in and the rest followed,” Potter said about his experienced guys. He also gives a ton of credit to his coaching staff that very much helped him when he took over.
As far as the upset on Friday, Potter attributes that to his team’s grit.
“We are physical. We knew if we could match their physicality, then we knew we had a shot,” Potter continued when talking about his team’s defining qualities.
Next up for the Landers is the Harriman Blue Devils who struggled for much of this season but might be getting healthy at the right time.
Cloudland knows not to look past this game just because of what the win and loss columns say. They know they need to use their momentum to their advantage.
“We can’t overlook them (Harriman) as they are getting healthy and getting players back. We just have to stay focused on our goals,” Potter expressed when talking about the need for his team to take it one game at a time.
Should Cloudland want to continue this fine recent run of form, it’s got to be a team effort. No one man will win the game Friday, but the coach did point out a few key guys for his team that must play well on Friday.
“Hunter Shell has to make good decisions on offense and Hunter Blair must continue to be the utility guy,” Potter said about his studs on offense. “Defensively, Gary Julian sets the tone. Jed Childress and David Miller also are anchors to the defense.”
With three straight wins and playing at home on Friday, the Highlanders have put themselves in a good position to contend this postseason, but they’re more than aware they’ve got to take it one game at a time.
Kickoff for this Friday’s first-round Class 1A playoff game at Cloudland’s Orr Field is at 7 pm.
