Brownstown Central saddles up for another regular season on Friday, hosting Corydon Central to kick off the 2023 football campaign.
The Braves dominated the Panthers in 2022, winning the game 53-28. They will look to win the matchup in 2023, hosting the same Panthers.
Corydon Central (0-0) at Brownstown Central (0-0)
Head coach Reed May is entering his 31st season as coach for the Braves, and his expectations haven’t changed.
“Our goal every year is to get better in every single game,” he said. “We build for the season. Step 1 was our black and red scrimmage. Step 2 was our scrimmage with Jennings County. Our game against Corydon Central will be another step for us.”
Senior leadership will be a strong suit for the Braves. May has great expectations for the upperclassmen coming into the 2023 season.
“We have 10 seniors on the roster this year,” May said. “We expect them to play how they do and come out with a win. We expect them to come out and play Brownstown Central football.”
The Braves will look to kick off their season with a win for the 18th straight season. They haven’t lost a season opener since losing to Mitchell on Aug. 20, 2005.
The team also will look to extend its winning streak to 13 straight against Corydon Central. The last time the Panthers got the better of the Braves was in sectional in 2011. Corydon defeated Brownstown 35-13 in that game.
“I think we’ve been working very hard during the offseason and these past few weeks,” May said.
“One thing is we’ve been making a little too many mistakes for my liking. 6-5 is not normal for Brownstown Central football,” he said, referring to the 2022 season. “We need to correct some of these mistakes in order to accomplish what we want.”
The five losses last season were the most in a regular season for May in his years as head coach of the Braves.
“Sometimes, we don’t focus like we should, and if you make mental errors continuously, it could cost you at a critical point in the game,” he said.
Brownstown opens its season with five straight Mid-Southern Conference games.
“It’s just our normal schedule,” he said. “We have some big games this season, including when we travel to Seymour in Week 6. Our other nonconference game is against Madison. We used to play eight conference games.”
The Braves will look to kick off 2023 right with a victory against the Panthers tonight.