Columbus North’s Tyrrice Degraffenreid tackles Decatur Central’s Nհo Dodo at Columbus North, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.
The Republic file photo
After falling to ranked Class 5A teams in last week’s football season openers, Columbus North and Columbus East will look for their first wins tonight when they square off at 8 p.m. East’s newly-renovated Stafford Field.
While the Olympians fell 45-10 at 5A No. 4 Bloomington North, the Bull Dogs were mere seconds away from upsetting 5A No. 8 Decatur Central. North led 14-3 with a little more than 7 minutes remaining, but the Hawks got a field goal and two touchdowns, the last coming with 6.7 seconds left, to hand the Bull Dogs a heartbreaking 18-14 defeat.
“Obviously, Friday night was a pretty tough loss for our guys,” North coach Logan Haston said. “You work so hard in the offseason, and that’s your first chance to compete. They worked so hard. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way. Obviously, a lot to learn from for a young football team. We’re ready to put that one behind us and get ready for this week.”
Haston was pleased with the way his defense played after that side of the ball routinely struggled last season.
“Defense played outstanding,” Haston said. “They were ready to roll. They flew around the field. It was refreshing to see. Unfortunately, our offense didn’t help them at times. We have to be ready to play complementary football.”
Columbus East’s Tyler Weller runs the ball during a sectional football game against Bloomington South at Columbus East High School in Columbus, Ind., Friday, Oct. 28, 2022.
The Republic file photo
East, meanwhile, was within 14-10 of Bloomington South late in the first half before the Panthers outscored them 31-0 the rest of the game.
“I thought in the first half, our effort was really good,” East coach Eddie Vogel said. “I thought there were some really pivotal moments in the game. Their last drive right before the half, our defense, I talked with them about it being a huge drive because we got the ball to start the second half. They moved the ball down and punched it in, so that’s a learning moment for our guys. They need to understand the importance of that last drive right before half. Then, in the second half, the first drive, we turn it over, and we held them to a field goal, and then we end up fumbling a little bit later on a kickoff return and then it was kind of over from that point on, and you could tell our guys didn’t react well. For a young football team, there were a lot of teachable moments and a lot of lessons that we hope we learned.”
The Olympians used both sophomore Kyson Villarreal and junior Zach Foster at quarterback at Bloomington South and plan to play them both again tonight.
“I think both guys played well,” Vogel said. “Both guys threw the ball well. We’re still going to stick with the same plan, where we’re going to give them both some opportunities. Both did a good job on Friday night, and we expect them to do the same this Friday.”
East also has a pair of running backs that can carry the load in Tyler Weller and junior Thomas Houpey. Houpey scored the Olympians’ lone touchdown in their opener.
“I thought our offense was better this year,” Vogel said. “We were able to kind of move the ball against a good Bloomington South defense that had nine returning starters, so I was very encouraged with how our offense played. We have to clean the turnovers up and some of the negative plays.”
North sophomore Asher Ratliff completed 13 of 25 passes for 104 yards in his varsity debut. Junior Gino Prescott, who spells junior starter Sam Mormino, carried five times for 89 yards. Junior Braylon Thoman caught six passes for 75 yards.
“Our pass defense was not very good against Bloomington South,” Vogel said. “Watching (North), they throw the ball, and they have some good skill players and a good young quarterback. I would anticipate them kind of attacking us through the air some, but they have some big linemen. They do a good job in their run game, as well, and have some good backs, so it’s going to be a good challenge for us. Then defensively, they’re fundamental and solid. They held a pretty good Decatur team to only a couple touchdowns.”
After splitting the first 50 games in the series, the Bull Dogs have won the past two games to take a 27-25 lead in head-to-head matchups with the Olympians. North won 39-6 last season.
“Being here and learning about the rivalry, you know what you’re going to get with them,” Haston said. “They’re not overly sophisticated with their scheme. They play sound fundamentally, and they don’t make a lot of mistakes. We know it’s a challenge, and we know we have to be able to take what the defense gives us at times. We cannot beat ourselves because they are a disciplined football team.”
