Columbus East’s Tyler Weller runs the ball against Columbus North at Columbus East, Friday, Aug. 25, 2023.
The Republic file photo
Jennings County came into this football season with high hopes of beating Columbus East for the first time since 1998.
A 2-0 start for the Panthers did nothing to diminish those hopes. But in last week’s loss to New Albany, Jennings came away with injuries to a couple of key players that could have a big affect on Friday’s Hoosier Hills Conference matchup against the visiting Olympians.
“We had guys get banged up,” Jennings coach T.J. Newton said.
One of those guys was sophomore quarterback/safety Parker Elmore. Newton said Elmore will not be available for Friday’s game, but could be back as early as next week.
Senior running back Branden Braun and senior Blaine Ison, the Panthers’ leading tackler, also were injured either in practice or in last week’s game. Newton said both will play this week, as will sophomore defensive back Nate Harrison, who has been battling an injury.
Braun is averaging more than 180 yards from scrimmage per game, despite not playing the entire game the past two weeks because of a lopsided win against Brown County and a tweaked ankle at New Albany. He has carried 45 times for 368 yards and seven touchdowns and caught 11 passes for 174 yards and two scores.
Branden Braun
Elmore has completed 22 of 29 passes for 407 yards and four touchdowns, has carried 27 times for 102 yards and a score and has a pair of interceptions on defense. Sam Burkman, who replaced him at quarterback last week, completed 7 of 14 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown and ran 13 times for 61 yards and two scores.
“Elmore is an extremely athletic kid,” East coach Eddie Vogel said. “When their No. 2 kid (Burkman) went in — he played quarterback against us last year — I thought he did a really good job of trying to get them back in the ballgame.”
The Panthers (2-1, 0-1) fell 41-20 at New Albany.
“We feel like we didn’t put our best foot forward last week, and we let one get away,” Newton said. “That’s on us, and we know we have to execute better.”
In its first two games, Jennings beat South Dearborn 41-25 and Brown County 60-0 for their first 2-0 start since 2011.
“I think we are much more confident than last year in their ability, but also the offensive and defensive schemes,” Newton said.
“They’re doing things a little bit differently this year than what they did last year,” Vogel said. “They ran the Wing-T last year, and there’s still some components of that in what they’re doing. They’re just doing it out of the shotgun. They’ve scored some points this year, so we’re going to have to try to keep them off the field and try to control the clock again offensively, and hopefully, we can match that effort we had offensively from last week at Seymour, and then we’re going to have to play better on defense.”
The Olympians (0-3, 0-1) had their best offensive showing of the season in a 41-26 loss at Seymour. Sophomore quarterback Kyson Villarreal ran for more than 160 yards.
Villarreal has completed 19 of 38 passes for 204 yards and one touchdown and leads the team in rushing with 34 carries for 203 yards and two scores. Tyler Weller had 30 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns, and Keaton Lawson has 10 catches for 85 yards.
Jennings put together back-to-back wins against East in 1997 (49-6) and 1998 (23-7). The Olympians finished 0-10 both of those seasons.
Since then, East has beaten the Panthers 24 consecutive times, including twice in the playoffs. The teams did not meet in 2019 or 2020. The Olympians won 42-6 in 2021 and 49-0 last year.
“We’re always going to respect our opponent,” Vogel said. “I don’t care who we play and what their record is, we’re going to prepare to win the football game, just like we have the first three weeks. It really doesn’t matter for us the opponent. We don’t change how we go about planning as coaches. We don’t change how our players prepare. We’re going to do everything we can to win the football game.”
