Columbus East players celebrate with East’s Eric Duncan (50) after he scooped up a fumble and ran it back for a touchdown during Friday’s game against Jeffersonville at Stafford Field at Columbus East High School.
Tommy Walker/For The Republic
Columbus East has at least earned a share of the Hoosier Hills Conference football title.
The Olympians made a statement Friday night by winning easily over Jeffersonville in a 52-6 rout.
East can win the outright HHC title, and its first since 2020, with a win at Bedford North Lawrence next week.
“Being in this program my freshman year, just being in that varsity spotlight and not having that outcome we worked so hard for the past three years,” East senior Jared Brooks said. “Your senior year, everything turned around. It feels like everything we worked for is starting to pay off, and there’s no greater feeling than that.”
The Olympians (5-3, 5-0) wasted no time lighting up the scoreboard. On the very first play from scrimmage, quarterback Kyson Villarreal found Keaton Lawson for a 42-yard reception. That would eventually set up the first touchdown when Villarreal found Cam Herron in the back of the end zone to lead 7-0 with 9:30 left in the first quarter.
East had good field possession on its second drive and took advantage. The Olympians went to the ground game to march down the field. Villarreal capped off the drive with a 1-yard quarterback sneak to make it 14-0 with 5:05 left in the first.
On their next possession, all they needed was one play. Thomas Houpey found an open hole from his offensive line and used a quick burst of speed to run it in for a 74-yard score to go ahead 21-0 with 2:56 left in the first.
It was the same story again for East on the next possession. All it took was one play when Villarreal found Brooks down the right sideline for a 31-yard touchdown to lead 28-0 with 1:43 left in the first.
On the fifth Olympian possession, they once again converted another touchdown. This time, Villarreal found Lawson for a 54-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 35-0 with 11:11 left in the second.
East ended the touchdown frenzy when they had to settle for a 35-yard Skylar Bailey field goal on the next possession to go ahead 38-0 with 6:38 to go in the second quarter.
The defense of the Olympians produced a shutout in the first half, and also were rewarded with a touchdown. Late in the first half, a bad snap by Jeffersonville caused the ball to sail over the quarterback, and Eric Duncan got the scoop and score for East to make it 45-0 with 52 seconds left for the halftime score.
“We put in a lot of work. We felt like we earned it. We’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing and working hard,” Lawson said.
The game went to a running clock in the second half. The Red Devils (5-3, 3-2) picked up a touchdown in the fourth quarter to prevent the shutout. Keatin Roberts also picked up a late touchdown for East.
The Olympians will travel to Bedford on Friday with the outright HHC title shot on the line.
“Our offense has been really solid the last six weeks, and we’ve got to continue that,” East coach Eddie Vogel said. “We’ll go to Bedford next week on the road while on fall break.”
