Bulldogs, Knights tangle tonight

By By Ryan Satcher / staff writer
Feb. 4, 2003
For the second straight season the Bulldogs of Clarkdale and the Knights of West Lauderdale will face off for the South State Soccer Championship and a chance to play in the State 1A-2A-3A Championship game.
The two teams are set to play in the Collinsville at 6 p.m. tonight in what should be a battle.
The game may have the same schools involved as last year's game, but a lot has changed over the past year.
Last season, the Knights came into the game with two wins over Clarkdale, but this season the Bulldogs took control of the district and beat West Lauderdale twice. Clarkdale will try to ride the momentum of those two wins into tonight's matchup and avoid overconfidence.
The Bulldogs were able to take two one-goal victories over the Knights. Clarkdale beat West in a shootout in Collinsville 2-1 just over a week ago and beat the Knights 1-0 at home just days before that.
The two teams have won two playoff games to get to this point. The Bulldogs came away with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Mercy Cross in overtime on Saturday and easily handled Wesson 7-1 in the first round.
West Lauderdale beat Resurrection 2-0 on Saturday and held off Natchez-Cathedral 3-2 in the first round.
Clarkdale may have to take on the Knights without Justin Culpepper who injured his knee in Saturday's win, but Taylor and the Bulldogs still feel confident they can overcome the situation.
The two teams have much different strategies on the field. The Bulldogs like an up-tempo match while the Knights like to control the ball and move it around. Controlling the tempo could be one of the keys to the match.
West Lauderdale comes into the game with an 18-4-1 record while the Bulldogs hold an impressive 16-1 record. All the records will be thrown out when the game starts and it should be a battle all night long.
are going to let it all hang out."