Columbus North and Columbus East both picked up road victories last week, and tonight, they’ll look to carry some momentum in the postseason when they play their regular-season finales on their home turf.
The Bull Dogs (5-3, 4-0) clinched at least a share of the Conference Indiana title in last week’s 55-19 rout at Bloomington North. Columbus North can win the title outright and finish unbeaten in the conference for the second consecutive year with a victory tonight against Terre Haute South.
“Our entire focus is on Week 9,” Bull Dogs coach Tim Bless said. “No. 1, it’s senior night. It’s a very important game for the football family, and it’s a chance to win Conference Indiana, which is a very important goal of ours heading into every season.”
Terre Haute South (1-7, 1-3) is coming off its first win of the season, a 34-21 triumph against Southport.
The Braves’ Kyle Cottee has completed 34 of 83 passes for 574 yards and three touchdowns and carried 70 times for 312 yards and two scores. Josh Cottee has carried 162 times for 880 yards and four touchdowns, and Amariyae Wilson has 14 catches for 288 yards and one score.
“It’s a really run-heavy offense, which you don’t see a lot of anymore,” Bless said. “It’s unique from that perspective, where we’re going to have to load the box and stop the run.”
Columbus North’s Luke Hammons has completed 84 of 132 passes for 1,086 yards and 16 touchdowns and carried 90 times for 413 yards and seven scores. Dyllan Redmon has 115 carries for 638 yards and five touchdowns, and Keegan Castetter has 32 catches for 564 yards and seven scores.
Meanwhile, East (3-5, 3-2) will host Bedford North Lawrence (4-4, 3-2) in a battle of teams currently tied for third place in the Hoosier Hills Conference. If second-place Floyd Central loses to first-place New Albany tonight, the East-BNL winner would finish second.
The Olympians are coming off a 27-7 victory at Jeffersonville.
“I thought we played pretty well,” East coach Eddie Vogel said. “I felt like we controlled the game. I thought we executed well, but I thought we left some points on the board. I felt like we really controlled the line of scrimmage on offense and were able to move the football. I’m excited to play this week and try to get another win and get some momentum going into the tournament.”
East’s Ethan Duncan has completed 42 of 79 passes for 472 yards and two touchdowns and carried 118 times for 526 yards and four scores. Tryce Villarreal has 153 carries for 681 yards and nine touchdowns, and Logan Christophel has 10 catches for 173 yards.
BNL’s Memphis Louden has completed 57 of 114 passes for 1,058 yards and seven touchdowns. The Stars have six players with between 100 and 300 yards rushing and two players with just under 400 yards receiving.
“Bedford has traditionally been an option team, and they still have some elements of the option in it, even with their new coach (Derrick Barker),” Vogel said. “That’s a tough thing to prepare for in a week.”
The Stars rolled to a 41-6 win against Madison last week.
“Bedford is really pretty young like us,” Vogel said. “I think they have some really good players. Their sophomore quarterback is playing really well right now, and they have some guys that can catch it. Defensively, they play a 33 Stack, and they fly around and blitz a lot. We’re going to have our hands full again.”
