Columbus North’s Luke Russell (42) and Jose Ramirez (21) combine for a tackle on Southport’s Tony Taylor during a football game at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Friday, Sept. 1, 2023.
The Republic file photo
After watching his team give up more than 32 points a game in his first season as Columbus North football coach, Logan Haston decided to shake things up a little bit on defense.
Haston abandoned the traditional 4-3 defensive scheme in favor of a 3-4 alignment. The move has proven fruitful, with the Bull Dogs allowing only 19.7 points a game this season heading into Friday night’s sectional final matchup against Class 6A No. 2 Center Grove.
“It’s a huge improvement,” Haston said. “When we ended last season, we knew there were some changes that we needed to make, not just with our personnel, but with our scheme. I’m really proud of coach Luke Teague and our defensive staff for going to clinics, for studying, for learning as we transitioned to a new defensive scheme. It really started with our coaches buying into it and going out and learning about it and then to teach it to our kids, and for them to be so responsive and buying into it has really been the key to our success.”
North (5-5) posted its third shutout of the season on Friday in a 58-0 sectional semifinal win against Jeffersonville. The Bull Dogs had previously blanked Columbus East and Terre Haute North, and in another game, lost a shutout when Southport scored against their JV defense on the final play of the game.
The defensive starting lineup features only three seniors and three returning starters from last season.
“That’s what’s really exciting for the future,” Haston said. “We’re able to compete in games and make a lot of plays with a lot of young guys on the field. So we’re not going to be complacent in the offseason. We’re going to continue to push the envelope and learn more. But we’re definitely excited where our future is going.”
Two of the returning starters switched positions. Junior Luke Russell, who leads the team with nine tackles a game, moved from outside linebacker to inside linebacker.
“I’ve liked it,” Russell said. “I’ve put on a lot of pounds in the offseason, so I’ve kind of been getting ready because we had both of the inside linebackers last year were leaving, so I wanted to adapt to that position more, and it helped a lot. I like it a lot. I like being able to roam around a little bit more.”
Junior Garrett Long moved from defensive end to outside linebacker.
“I like going back to outside linebacker,” Long said. “You’re a lot more open. You’re not getting blocked by some big ol’ dude every single play, so that’s great. Then, the ability just to move on my blitzes, I get a running start on them. I’m not just always down in a three-point stance to start.”
Senior Keller DeSpain and junior Dumo Kak at end and senior nose tackle Alex Lozano have been a formidable defensive line. DeSpain leads the team with 5 1/2 sacks and 16 quarterback hurries.
Long and Russell are joined at linebacker by junior Jose Ramirez on the outside and sophomore Anderson Horn on the inside. Senior Tyrrice DeGraffenried and junior Robby Williams are the corners, and junior Jackson Haston and sophomore Sam Perry are the safeties.
Jackson Haston has two interception returns for touchdowns this season. He and Perry both had pick-sixes in last week’s win against Jeffersonville.
In the Bull Dogs’ five losses that included 5A No. 1 Bloomington North and 5A No. 3 Bloomington South and 3A No. 1 Bishop Chatard, they’ve given up an average of 34.2 points per game. In the five wins, North has allowed only 5.2 points per game.
The defensive unit will face its toughest challenge of the season Friday when it hosts three-time defending state champion Center Grove (9-1), which is led by quarterback and Duke recruit Tyler Cherry.
“Center Grove’s offense is definitely explosive,” Logan Haston said. “Their quarterback, Tyler Cherry, is a heck of a player. So we’re going to have our hands full, but we have some creative things that we’re confident with our game plan.”
“We’re running some stuff that we normally run, but we’ll run it more just to adapt to their offense,” Russell added. “We pretty much know what route schemes that they’re going to run on certain downs, just from what they’ve done before. So that helps a lot, just watching a lot of film and studying a lot.”
The starting defensive linemen have had help in the rotation from a trio of big offensive linemen who see spot duty on the defensive side in senior Luke Revell, junior Bryce Harriman and sophomore Drew Schiefer. Harriman recently took a visit to Alabama, and Schiefer visited Notre Dame last weekend.
“I think for our D-line, we really need to step up our game,” DeSpain said. “I think we can cause them havoc if we can get in there and hit the quarterback a couple times. I think this game will be our best yet.”
“I think we’ve been playing pretty well, but I don’t think we’ve played our best game yet on defense,” Long added. “I think we can show the state that we can hang with the big dogs. I think we just need to be physical and show them what were about and show them that we’re not just some easy little school to walk over.”
