Thomas Houpey
BLOOMINGTON — Columbus East took advantage of several Bloomington South penalties.
It kept the Olympians close in the first half, but the Panthers eventually created separation in the second half and pulled away for a 45-10 season-opening victory.
Bloomington South wasted no time getting on the scoreboard when they drove down the field on the opening drive. It was capped off with Jarrin Alley throwing a 19-yard pass to D’Andre Black for the score to go ahead 7-0 with 9:23 left in the first quarter.
On the ensuing possession, East bounced back to drive down the field. When it looked like the drive had stalled at midfield, a pass interference penalty was called on the Panthers to keep the drive alive. The Olympians took advantage as they marched the ball all the way down to the 6-yard line. Skylar Bailey kicked a 25-yard field goal to make it 7-3 with 3:47 left in the opening quarter.
Bloomington South once again marched down the field on the ensuing possession. They converted key third and fourth downs along the way. Allen threw a 13-yard pass for the score to make it 14-3 with 58 seconds left in the first quarter.
After an Olympians punt, the Panthers looked to set up for another score. Alley had a long run down the right side for a touchdown. However, a penalty was called that negated the touchdown. It eventually stalled the drive.
East took advantage on its next possession. They drove down the field and Thomas Houpey ran the ball to the end zone from 2-yards out to make it 14-10.
The Panthers scored right before halftime. Alley made several completions downfield and eventually capped off the drive with a 27-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-10 with 1:41 left in the first half.
The Olympians had the ball to start the second half, but Bloomington South made an interception to set itself up in good field position. The East defense stalled the drive, and the Panthers settled for a 26-yard field goal to extend the lead to 24-10.
On the ensuing possession, Kyson Villarreal made a couple big passes to Cam Herron to bring the ball past midfield. However, the Olympians didn’t take advantage and turned it over on downs.
The Panthers took advantage when Gavin Adams had a big run to put the ball in Olympian territory. Adams eventually ended the drive with a 3-yard run to increase the lead to 31-10 with 3:31 left in the third quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, East fumbled the ball and Bloomington South recovered to start the drive at the 20-yard line. It took only a couple plays when Adams scored on a 9-yard run to increase the lead to 38-10.
With 7:54 left in the game, Ben Morrison ran for a 15-yard score to increase the Panthers lead to 45-10 that led to a running clock for the remainder of the game.
