MADISON — Columbus East lit up the scoreboard like a pinball machine in the first half Friday night.
The Olympians put up six touchdowns in the half and rolled over Madison 56-3 to remain unbeaten in the Hoosier Hills Conference.
“We were really happy with our execution,” East coach Bob Gaddis said. “Our kids were prepared well, and they played well. A lot of guys got to play tonight.”
On the Olympians first drive, tight end Isaac VanCuren caught a pass from quarterback Josh Major for 40 yards that later set up a Jamon Hogan 32-yard touchdown run to for a 7-0 lead.
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The Cubs (1-6, 0-5) did not get much going on their first possession. Bryce Foy’s pass was intercepted by Jonah Wichman, who ran it back for the touchdown. However, the touchdown was negated by an illegal block in the back penalty on East (6-1, 5-0).
It didn’t matter. Major ran for 19 yards, and Hogan competed the two-play drive with a 5-yard run to extend the lead 14-0 with 8:34 left in the opening quarter.
After Charlie Burton intercepted a Foy pass on Madison’s ensuing drive, Major got involved in the running game, scrambling on the left sideline, but did a nice reversal to stay inbounds and run all the way to the right side of the field to complete the 31-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 21-0.
“He’s a really talented young guy,” Gaddis said. “He stepped up and made a play. Josh is a great leader and has been making a lot of plays with his arm and his legs.”
Right before the first quarter was ending, Hogan picked up his third touchdown with a 50-yard run for a 28-0 lead.
After a Cubs punt, Jaedin Miller got in on the action, picking up a touchdown on a 1-yard run to make it 35-0. The final score in the first half came when Ethan Summa made a great juke to get past his defender, and Major found him wide open for the 15-yard pass to make it 42-0.
In the second half, Gaddis played most of his reserves. Backup quarterback Cole Gilley scored on a 4-yard run, and Tyler Settle threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Kaalob Schmidt to complete the scoring.
