Columbus East’s Thomas Houpey (33) runs the ball against Seymour Sept. 6 at Columbus East High School.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Two teams with conference title aspirations will put their undefeated conference records on the line Friday night when Columbus East visits Floyd Central and Columbus North hosts Terre Haute North for its homecoming.
East (3-2, 3-0) and Floyd Central (3-1, 2-0) are the only unbeatens left in the Hoosier Hills Conference.
“We want to stay alive in that race,” East coach Eddie Vogel said. “We talked to our players in a team meeting (Monday), I’ve been here 20 years, and we’ve had some really good battles with them.”
Both the Highlanders and Olympians have won three in a row. Floyd Central beat Jeffersonville 41-14 on Friday, while East posted a 43-17 win at New Albany in its first trip outside of Columbus this season.
“We had a lot of penalties, which is something we haven’t had in the previous four games,” Vogel said. “Those penalties kind of hampered things as the game went along, but I thought our kids competed pretty well. It’s always tough to get on the bus and travel an hour and 15 minutes to play one of those river schools, but I’m really pleased to come away with a win.
“One of the keys for us this time is, which we did not do Friday night, is we have to get off the bus and be ready to play,” he added. “I know we returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, but we did not do much else in the first quarter. We have to be ready to execute when we get down there.”
Columbus North’s Asher Ratliff passes the ball against Roncalli Sept. 13 at Max Andress Field at Columbus North High School.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
Meanwhile, Columbus North (4-1, 1-0) is coming off its first loss of the season, a 21-14 setback at Class 4A No. 5 Bishop Chatard. The Bull Dogs came away empty on all four of their trips inside the Trojans 30-yard line.
“Ultimately, that game came down to third- and fourth-down conversions,” Columbus North coach Logan Haston said. “That was the one statistic that we lacked the most. We were not able to sustain drives offensively, and they were able to convert some third downs in crucial moments when they needed to, especially those final two drives of the game. Outside of that stat, we felt like we played really well. We just weren’t able to convert in those critical moments, and that’s what bit us on Friday.”
Terre Haute North (1-4, 0-3) is a much-improved team than the Patriot squad that went 0-10 last year, including a 35-0 loss to the Bull Dogs. Senior Zyeiar White has run for 833 yards and nine touchdowns and has done over the 100-yard mark all five games.
“(Monday) in our team meeting, we said, ‘Whatever Terre Haute North team you remember from 2023, scrap that from your brain because this is a different football team,’ Haston said. “They are improved, they have some explosiveness on offense, they’ve put up points in every game this season. We’re going to have our hands full with their group. Their running back is electric. We have to be able to get 11 guys to the football and tackle him, and then offensively, be able to establish a run game and be a little bit more of the dominant team up front.”
The Bull Dogs likely will be without leading receiver Braylon Thoman (elbow) and top lineman Drew Schiefer (back) for another week or two. Haston said tight end-linebacker Garrett Long, who sprained an ankle in the win against Roncalli two weeks ago, could be a game-time decision.
