Columbus East’s Thomas Houpey, left, dives to score a touchdown while pursued by Jennings County’s Brandan McCory during a football game at Columbus East High School in Columbus, Ind., Friday, Sept. 13, 2024.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
It would have taken a pretty much flawless effort for Jennings County to be in the football game with Columbus East Friday night.
Four first-half turnovers didn’t exactly help the Panthers’ cause.
The Olympians took advantage of a fumble recovery and three interceptions to put 35 points on the board in the second quarter on their way to a 62-7 Hoosier Hills Conference win, their 27th consecutive victory over Jennings County.
“Columbus East is a great program,” Jennings coach Jason Burton said. “They’re the blueprint in the Hoosier Hills for success. They do everything the right way, and they’re what we’re striving to be. Obviously, you turn the ball over in the first half and put your team in bad spots defensively, that’s going to hurt you on the scoreboard.”
The Olympians (2-2, 2-0) led 42-0 at halftime, inducing a running clock for the final two quarters. East played mostly backups in the second half.
“I was pretty hard on them in practice this week,” East coach Eddie Vogel said. “The coaches were pretty hard on them. We want to be able to win conference, so we have to play up to our potential, and I think tonight, we were able to execute and did a lot of really good things.”
Leading only 7-0 after one quarter, the Olympians scored on the first play of the second on the second Kyson Villarreal-to-Keaton Lawson touchdown pass of the night. Three plays later, they made it 21-0 after a 21-yard interception return by Robert Young.
Thomas Houpey and JD Rotert ran for touchdowns, sandwiched around a Villarreal-to-Cam Herron strike.
“It was more about doing what was for East tonight instead of worrying about our opponent,” Villarreal said. “The game is a game to us. We want to go 1-0 every week. It’s conference season, and we want to win conference this year.”
Freshman James Scruggs took over at quarterback in the second half for East and ran 40 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. The next time the Olympians had it, Scruggs threw to Herron for another score and a 55-0 lead.
“We’re getting stuff going offensively, and it’s showing,” Herron said. “Seymour and now Jennings County, I think we’re moving on. Everyone is getting their confidence back, and we’re strarting to make a really good run for conference.”
The Panthers (0-4, 0-2) never quit battling. They got on the board with an 8-yard touchdown from Brandan McCory early in the fourth quarter.
McCory finished with 92 yards rushing on 17 carries.
“I was pleased with the way our kids battled early in the game,” Burton said. “We showed that we have the ability to play with anybody early in the game, and we showed some flashes for success, so I’m pleased with our kids’ effort tonight, and we’ll continue to get better.”
East’s final score came on a 26-yard run from freshman Keatin Roberts.
Villarreal finished 7 of 10 for 111 yards and three touchdowns. Houpey carried eight times for 77 yards, and Herron had two catches for 51 yards.
Christian Guerra went 8 for 9 on extra points for the Olympians. Former soccer player Aarav Nihalani joined the football team a couple weeks ago and had enough practices in to kick off for the first time on Friday.
“That kickoff, their starting field position for the other offense was not very good because he did a great job of putting it deep, and our coverage guys were able to get down there and get them stopped inside the 30,” Vogel said.
Columbus East 62, Jennings County 7
Jennings County;0;0;0;7;—;7
Columbus East;7;35;6;7;—;62
CE — Keaton Lawson 18 pass from Kyson Villarreal (Christian Guerra kick), 9:23.
CE — Lawson 9 pass from Villarreal (Guerra kick), 11:56.
CE — Robert Young 21 interception return (Guerra kick), 10:30.
CE — Thomas Houpey 37 run (Guerra kick), 7:38.
CE — Cam Herron 35 pass from Villarreal (Guerra kick), 5:13.
CE — JD Rotert 5 run (Guerra kick), 2:13.
CE —James Scruggs 40 run (Guerra kick), 10:35.
CE — Herron 16 pass from Scruggs (run failed), 3:46.
JC —Brandan McCory 8 run (Isaiah Thompson kick), 9:53.
CE — Keatin Roberts 26 run (Guerra kick), 2:21.
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Jennings County: McCory 10-92, Cam Patterson 9-16, Nathan Harrison 6-14, Andrew Maschino 1-1, Sam Hernandez 1-0. Columbus East: Houpey 8-77, Scruggs 4-52, Roberts 3-40, Villarreal 6-39, Rotert 3-23, Waylon Gourley 3-7, Jake Pope 1-5, Kameron Combest 1-1.
PASSING — Jennings County: Harrison 5 for 9, 20 yards, 0 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, Ryan Clark 0-1-0-0-0. Columbus East: Villarreal 7-10-113-3-0, Scruggs 1-1-16-1-0.
RECEIVING — Jennings County: Hernandez 1-22, Logan Lawson 3-0, McCory 1-(-2). Columbus East: Herron 2-51, Lawson 3-29, Paxton Thompson 1-23, Jared Brooks 1-13, Kamden Shelley 1-11.
