Gino Prescott
Columbus North saw its homecoming game delayed a day because of Friday night’s rain and windstorm, but that only delayed the inevitable.
The Bull Dogs scored in all three phases of the game Saturday afternoon in rolling to a 51-10 Conference Indiana football win against Terre Haute North.
“I thought our guys handled the whole situation really well,” Columbus North coach Logan Haston said. “We got together (Friday) night and had a little team function, and they were focused there. Then, they showed up today and had great concentration on the game plan and had great energy and really showed how mature our football team is and how much we’ve grown over the year to be able to handle something like this.”
The Bull Dogs (5-1, 2-0) got four touchdowns from Gino Prescott, three scoring passes from Asher Ratliff and two touchdown catches from Jordan Briner. They also recorded a pair of safeties on special teams and got a pick-six from nose tackle Anthony Portaluppi.
Anthony Portaluppi
Prescott carried 17 times for 156 yards and three touchdowns and caught two passes for 31 yards and a score.
“Coach said early this week, expect to run the ball,” Prescott said. “I just had to put my head down and follow the plays and follow our O-line. It was good to have the best O-linemen in the state, Drew Schiefer, back. It was easy to run behind him.”
Schiefer, who had missed all season with a back injury, saw spot duty at tackle for the Bull Dogs. Columbus North still was without its top two receivers, Braylon Thoman and Garrett Long, because of injuries.
Jordan Briner
Cole Finney, who started in place of Long at linebacker, recovered a fumble on the Patriots’ first offensive play, setting up the Bull Dogs’ first score. Briner caught six passes for 56 yards and the two scores to make up for the absence of Thoman and Long.
“I’m trying to step up and do the best I possibly can for these guys,” Briner said. “There’s still a lot of stuff to fix and do, but we did pretty good.”
Ratliff did throw two first-half-interceptions, and Columbus North led only 22-3 at halftime and 28-10 late in the third quarter. But then the Bull Dogs scored four times in a span of less than four minutes to put it away.
Prescott’s fourth touchdown put Columbus North ahead 35-10. Then, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Portaluppi stepped in front of a Maddox Woodcock pass and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown.
“I wasn’t expecting the ball, but when I saw it come to me, I just had to go for it,” Portaluppi said. “I was going to be a QB spy incase he ran, but I saw the running back, and I went to him. I was just thinking I was set up perfectly and had to run into the end zone.”
On the ensuing kickoff, Terre Haute North fumbled the ball through its own end zone for a safety. The Bull Dogs then got the ball and drove for an 11-yard Ratliff-to-Briner touchdown pass to cap the scoring and trigger a running clock for the final 9:32.
State sacks leader Evan Saevre added two first-half sacks to his total, and Jackson Haston had a second-half interception for Columbus North.
“I think we started a little sloppy, especially offensively, and turned the ball over twice in the first half, so we want to do better there,” Logan Haston said. “But besides those, we did play a pretty complete game. We did get it done in all three phases, and I’m proud of our guys for buying into the game plan and getting it done today.”
The Bull Dogs will get a step up in competition the next two weeks with a visit to Bloomington South and a home game against Bloomington North.
“It’s a great feeling,” Portaluppi said. “I’m excited for the next couple games coming up.”
Columbus North 51, Terre Haute North 10
Terre Haute North;0;3;7;0;—;10
Columbus North;7;15;13;16;—;51
CN — Gino Prescott 3 run (Luke Friend kick), 11:04
CN — Jordan Briner 5 pass from Asher Ratliff (Friend kick), 9:17.
CN — Safety, ball snapped over punter’s head out of end zone, 6:36.
THN — Joah Van Dijk 25 FG, 3:17.
CN — Prescott 1 run (pass failed), :19.
CN — Prescott 14 pass from Ratliff (run failed), 6:40.
THN — Zy’Elar White 2 run (Van Dijk kick), 1:37.
CN — Prescott 1 run (Friend kick), 1:10.
CN — Anthony Portaluppi 20 interception return (Friend kick), 11:52.
CN — Safety, ball fumbled through end zone, 11:48.
CN — Briner 11 pass from Ratliff (Friend kick), 9:32.
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Terre Haute North: White 14-12, Jackson McDonald 1-1, Maddox Woodcock 12-(-10), team 1-(-11). Columbus North: Prescott 17-156, Ratliff 7-34, Sam Mormino 6-20, Josuan Padilla 3-11, Briner 2-10, Cohen Long 1-(-1).
PASSING — Terre Haute North: Woodcock 7 for 13, 48 yards, 0 touchdowns, 2 interceptions. Columbus North: Ratliff 12-17-129-3-2.
RECEIVING — Terre Haute North: Dalton Hersman 2-20, White 2-13, Sam Weihert 1-13, Asiah Menke 2-5, Josiah Bennett 1-(-3). Columbus North: Briner 6-56, Prescott 2-31, Morgan Knapp 2-22, Eli Smith 1-17, Owie Kibler 1-3.
