Heritage Hills football ready for semistate battle with Batesville

LINCOLN CITY, Ind. (WFIE) - We still have three teams left, in the Tri-State, who are alive and kicking, in the high school football playoffs: Owensboro Catholic and Union County in the Kentucky quarterfinals, and then Heritage Hills in Indiana.

The Patriots are playing in the IHSAA Class 3A Semistate, meaning they’re just one win away, from a return trip, to the state finals at Lucas Oil Stadium.

First things first, though, Todd Wilkerson’s crew has to get past Batesville. The Pats beat the Bulldogs, last year, in the regional, and so both teams are very familiar with each other. Batesville no doubt has a chip on its shoulder, so Heritage Hills is making sure to stay focused, on the Dogs.

“There’s too much at stake. They understand that if they have a bad night, you go home and your dreams of playing for a state championship are gone,” said Heritage Hills football head coach, Todd Wilkerson. “So, the stakes are too high, not to be up for this game. They know what it takes. They’re a confident group. When you’re in the semistate game, and you know winning it means going to Lucas Oil, and then it really increases the energy.”

Heritage Hills junior, Tyler Ruxer. “Everybody’s like ya know, keep talking about state, I’m like, man we’re focused on this week. We gotta get through this week, to get back there, so that’s just been the mentality, week by week.”

“We watch film, just like they’re probably watching film. They’re a really good team,” said Patriots' senior, Alex Smith. “They run the ball well. They got a good QB who throws the ball well, a running back who runs the ball hard. It’s gonna take a lot to stop their offense.”

Heritage Hills hosts Batesville, on Friday night, at 6:30.

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