Riverton Parke puts undefeated streak on line against Parke Heritage Friday

The last time Riverton Parke and Parke Heritage played football, it didn't end so well for Dan Rector's team.

Rector, who was halfway around the world on a deployment in the Middle East, wasn't on the sidelines as the Panthers picked up a 70-0 win against Parke Heritage in the opening round of the Class A Sectional 45 tournament a year ago. 

This year, Rector will be on the sidelines as his vastly improved Wolves (5-2) roll out the red carpet tomorrow for Riverton Parke (7-0). The game, which features Parke Heritage ranked 10th and Riverton Parke ranked 8th in this week's IFCA Poll, is the GIANT fm WAXI game of The Week, with pregame coverage beginning at 6:35 p.m. and kickoff at 7 p.m. 

Both teams enter the Week 8 clash banged up, nursing both injuries and illness, according to both coaches. 

" I like our team chemistry and work ethic.  That really is a result of great offseason workouts and strong senior leadership.  I'm not surprised we've had some success this year.  These kids have really worked hard and we knew we would be improved.  The biggest concern I have right now is how banged up we are.  We have some key kids out (possibly for the rest of the year) and we've also dealt with several kids being sick this week.  We are going to need to dig deep and play our absolute best on Friday night," Rector told The Parke County Post. 

Riverton Parke head coach Bradley Sanders echoed those sentiments when discussing his team's health.

" Considering how many guys we have banged up, we feel good about where we are. We definitely have some things we can improve on. Our goal is the same every week -- effort. We feel we can make up for a lot of things with great effort," Sanders said.

Both coaches enter Friday's game extremely complimentary of the other and the job they have done with their programs this season. 

"RP is extremely talented.  They are far and away the biggest and strongest team we've seen all year.  They have just mauled people on the line of scrimmage this year.  They also have a ton of speed and they are very deep, especially for our conference.  They execute very well on offense and do not turn the ball over.  They are especially good on 1st down, which puts them routinely in second/third and short situations.  Defensively, they show a lot of tight man coverage and they are very aggressive blitzing," Rector said. 

Sanders admits this year's installment of Parke Heritage football is improved compared to what he has previously seen.

"When you watch them, they are definitely better. They are playing hard and are doing some good things this year," Sanders said. 

As for the top 10 matchup, both coaches acknowledge it doesn't matter as the focus is solely on Friday night and maintaining momentum down the stretch. 

"We don't care about rankings. There are so many polls, I am not sure which one you would even go off of. Rankings won't win the game Friday night. Our goal is to win the WRC. A win Friday night will at least clinch a part of the WRC Championship for us. To win it outright, we will have to beat Covington next Friday. Where we are ranked or where they are ranked won't decide the outcome. We will have the same mindset we do every week, be as physical as we can and execute. We will be ready to play and I am sure they will be too," Sanders said. 

Rector said while it is nice to see his program get recognition, it won't impact the game Friday. 

"It is nice to know some folks are thinking well of how we are playing, but ultimately the rankings don't really change how you prepare at all in my mind.   We definitely haven't talked about it a single time--it is outside of our process and what we can control.  We are focusing on RP and all of the challenges they present and what we need to do to be successful against them," Rector said.