Columbus East coach Eddie Vogel comes out to talk to his team during a timeout near the end of the first half of a football game at Columbus North at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Friday, Aug. 26, 2022.
The Republic file photo
Columbus East and Columbus North will both look to finish with winning regular seasons when they hit the gridiron for the final time before the postseason.
The Olympians (4-4, 4-1) will travel to Bedford North Lawrence (4-4, 4-1), while the Bull Dogs (4-4, 3-1) travel to Terre Haute South (5-3, 3-1).
With fall break this week for both schools, the practice schedule has been different. Both coaches hope to have their teams focused on their opponent tonight.
“With fall break, there’s a lot of distractions that could take away from this game (tonight). It’s obviously keeping our guys focused,” North coach Logan Haston said. “We’re trying to come up with fun things to do in practice to make the guys excited to be there and keep the energy and morale high.”
East can earn a share of the Hoosier Hills Conference title with a win over the Stars. Seymour defeated New Albany 49-7 Oct. 7 to earn at least a share of its first conference title since 2001.
“Our guys know what’s at stake. I think we got spoiled around here playing for the conference championships (17 in a row from 2004-20), and it’s not that easy,” East coach Eddie Vogel said. “This year in the HHC is a good example of that. Everyone in the conference has had some stumbles. Our players understand.”
BNL, which is coming off a 21-14 upset loss at Madison, also can tie Seymour for the HHC title if it beats the Olympians.
”We took a good look at Bedford North Lawrence this week and showed them the scouting reports (Monday),” Vogel said. “They’re talented on offense. They do a really good job defensively. Their losses had come against really good teams other than the stumbling block against Madison last week. We know we’re going to have our hands full.”
Columbus North coach Logan Haston calls in a play during a football game against Bloomington North at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Friday, Oct. 7, 2022.
The Republic file photo
Even though North is out of the hunt for the Conference Indiana title, it can finish in second with a win over the Braves.
“Our guys know this is a big week despite not being able to win conference,” Haston said. “It’s still a game that means a lot for us and a chance to finish the season with a winning record.”
The Bull Dogs have one of the most explosive offenses in the conference, but the defense hasn’t matched it in recent weeks. The defense has given up 40.4 points over the past five weeks and have gone 2-3 during that stretch.
“Obviously, we gave up more points than we’d like (in a 48-42 win against Bloomington North). Our offense was clicking in that game for three quarters. The fourth quarter, we tried to run clock a little bit and slow things down. We’ve got to continue from an offensive standpoint to come out high-powered. If we get into those situations, we need to put points up ourselves,” Haston said. “More importantly, defensively, we’ve got to come out and we’ve got to get stops. There were some times that we had some opportunities. We got them to third and long and fourth downs, and they converted. We’ve got to do a better job of getting off the field and containing them.”
Vogel said his team competed well in all three phases last week in a 42-0 win against Jeffersonville. East will need the match or outperform last week’s effort to earn the conference title share.
“It really comes down to preparation and practice. You‘ve got to have a great week of preparation in knowing your opponent. You’ve got to be able to execute in practice,” Vogel said. “I’m a firm believe in playing how you practice. Having a good week and mentally preparing for your opponent is going to be key. We’ve got to be able to get off the bus and start fast and be able to control the line of scrimmages on both sides of the football, and then the guys have to make plays. They have guys that can make plays, and our guys have to do the same.”
