Carmel enters the post-season with a record of 7-1 (Ben Davis game not included due to Oct. 13 press deadline). The team will play Perry Meridian at Carmel Stadium at 7 p.m. this Friday.
Head Coach Kevin Wright said that although the post-season has a different atmosphere to it, the fundamentals remain the same.
“When you get to a big game, especially later in the year, it’s an accumulation of everything you’ve done going back to the preseason,” Wright said. “All you’re doing is focusing in on things you’ve done repeatedly. By the time you get to Friday there should be a feeling of confidence. You know what you’re doing, and you can go out and do it.”
Carmel’s only loss of the year so far was to Warren Central, the top ranked team in the state, in a close 22-20 game. Other than the Warren Central game, Carmel has scored at least 42 points per game, and has not allowed more than 17. Carmel has dominated the majority of opponents, outscoring them a total of  258 points, which comes out to roughly five and a half more touchdowns per game.
Wright said despite the team’s stellar statistics, there is only one that matters: wins.
“I always think it’s funny when people want to talk about stats when really the only stat that count in the end is the score. I went over the (Warren Central) game, and (Carmel) won every stat category with the expectation of turnovers, and they scored two more points than we did,” Wright Said. “We threw for more, we ran for more, we had fewer penalties and we had more first downs. The only category we didn’t win was turnovers, and we didn’t win the game.”
Justin Todd, varsity linebacker and senior, said he agrees with Wright’s philosophy on stats.
“No matter what gets in the way in competing there really isn’t anything you can blame on other people,” Todd said. “We take personal responsibility. If certain things don’t go your way, you still have to take responsibility for it.”
Wright said in order to continue into the playoffs, the little things must stay on the team’s mind.
“People get spoiled a lot of times  and just assume different programs win because they got better players, better coaches. When in reality a lot of times people win because they do the little things. We talk a lot about there will be teams with better athletes, but we feel like there isn’t a better team.”
If the team is victorious on Friday, it will play either Southport or Lawrence Central on Oct. 28.