Brownstown Central’s football team will face more than a few challenges when it travels to North Harrison for a key Mid-Southern Conference showdown on Friday night (7 p.m. kickoff).

The Cougars (3-1) will be the first winning team the Braves (4-0) have faced. Thus far, Brownstown has overwhelmed four teams with a collective 3-13 record by a combined score of 225-32.

North Harrison is riding a three-game winning streak and features the state’s leading rusher, Bryce Fessel. The 6-foot, 175-pound junior has run for 814 yards on 99 carries (8.2 average) and highlighted his season with a 334-yard performance two week ago against Corydon.

“He runs hard, and their line is huge,” Brownstown head coach Reed May said. “They’ve got some big linemen to block for him, so when he gets going, he’s going to be a handful.”

Brownstown has beaten North Harrison six straight times, but the Cougars took two of three games from the Braves during the 2015-17 seasons. A big physical offensive line and tough running backs boosted NH to those victories and May thinks this year’s team has the same characteristics.

“They like to be physical,” May said. “(Fessel) will carry the ball 30 times or more. They like to go unbalanced and run power counters. The quarterback is a good runner too. They’ll throw a couple of play action passes to try and get you to fall asleep. On fourth down, they’ll probably go for it anywhere on the field to keep the ball away from you. You’ve got to be as physical as they are.”

Brownstown’s defense may be the antidote to North Harrison’s powerful rush offense, which has averaged 390 yards on the ground over the last three weeks. The Braves have allowed positive rush yardage just once in four games this season. Combined, opposing offenses have been limited to negative-23 yards on 89 attempts so far.

Unfortunately for the Braves, a key piece of their defense will be unavailable. Junior middle linebacker Owen Wischmeier broke his right arm during the second quarter of last week’s 54-12 victory over Salem and may be out for the season.

“He’ll have surgery probably Thursday,” May said. “Depending on how the surgery goes will determine if there’s a chance that maybe he can play later in the year. I’m not counting on him being back but we’re hoping, good Lord willing, that maybe he can ‘club it up’ and play at sectional time. But we won’t know until after surgery.”

An all-state selection last year, Wischmeier is BC’s defensive point leader this season with 31 tackles and an interception. May said his impact cannot be underestimated.

“Our run defense has been really good because of Owen,” May said. “You take Owen out of the mix and we’re scrambling a little bit. You don’t just replace Owen. He’s probably the best middle linebacker we’ve ever had in terms of his ability to read things quickly.”

Senior Gregory Hutcheson will step in for Wischmeier. Hutcheson is returning from a shoulder injury and saw his first defensive snaps against Salem last week.

Of course, adding defensive responsibilities to Hutcheson’s plate is not without risk. The 6-foot, 190-pounder is also BC’s leading rusher on the offensive side, running for 550 yards and nine touchdowns on just 31 carries.

Hutcheson is the main cog in a hyper-productive offensive machine. The Braves are averaging 363 rush yards and a state-leading 56.3 points per game. BC’s average margin of victory, 48.3, is also tops in the state.

If Hutcheson’s offensive snaps are reduced, the Braves can lean on a plethora of other capable runners. Preston Garrison (15 carries, 205 yards, 13.7 average), Jack Pace (21-169, 8.0), Evan Stahl (11-100, 9.1), Landon Ault (10-93, 9.3), Trevor Branaman (14-89, 6.4) and Brock Dean (3-38, 12.7) have all run the ball effectively.

Brownstown quarterback Micah Sheffer has thrown the ball just 10 times in the last two games but may be called on to loosen up North Harrison’s defense. The junior has completed 52 percent of his passes so far (13 for 25) for 285 yards and four touchdowns without an interception.

Brownstown enters Friday’s contest highly ranked in this week’s Class 2A polls. The Braves are No. 3 in the media poll, down from No. 2 last week, and moved up one spot to No. 2 in the coaches poll. In the latest Sagarin Ratings, BC occupies the No. 2 spot. Lafayette Central Catholic is the No. 1 team in all three polls.

North Harrison is ranked 36th among Class 3A teams by Sagarin. The Cougars are unranked in the media and coaches polls.

No matter what the rankings look like, May said he expects a challenge.

“On the board in our locker room, we’ve got the conference standings,” May said. “We’re undefeated at 4-0 and Silver Creek’s undefeated. Then you’ve got North Harrison and Scottsburg with one loss. The teams we’ve beaten are at the bottom of the conference. We haven’t beaten anybody with a winning record yet. They’re (North Harrison) our toughest competition so far.”

Players of the Week

Offensive Back: Greg Hutcheson

Offensive Line: Jairdyn Kiser

Defensive Line/MLB: Joe Roberts

Defensive Back/Dime: Evan Stahl &

Special Teams: Nathaniel Conyer