East draws Owls, North gets Red Devils

Columbus East and Columbus North will face Hoosier Hills Conference opponents in the opening round of the upcoming football tournament.

The Class 5A No. 4 Olympians (6-1) will visit Seymour (3-4) on Oct. 20. The Bull Dogs (6-1) will host Jeffersonville (2-5) on Oct. 27.

East already has played at Seymour once this season, winning 44-6 in Week 3.

“(First-year Seymour) coach (Mike) Kelly has done a nice job getting his team instilled,” East coach Bob Gaddis said. “I’m sure they’ll be ready to go. It will be a familiar opponent, but I’m sure a different opponent than what we played the first time around.”

[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]

The Olympians also would play familiar opponents in the sectional semifinals and final. They would host 5A No. 10 Bedford North Lawrence (5-2) in the Oct. 27 semifinals and would play either Floyd Central or New Albany in the Nov. 3 final.

East hosts Bedford Oct. 13 to close the regular season.

“It is different because it’s all familiar opponents, but we’re not looking past the first one,” Gaddis said. “Playing a team twice is always tough.”

In drawing Jeffersonville, Columbus North avoided 6A No. 6 Center Grove and Franklin Central. Center Grove has knocked the Bull Dogs out of the sectional five of the past six years, and Franklin Central handed North its only loss this season.

The Bull Dogs would visit the Center Grove-Franklin Central winner in the Nov. 3 sectional final.

“With it being a blind draw, you just come into the thing open minded because it’s out of your control,” North coach Tim Bless said. “My main thing is ‘You get to play at home.’ To play at the Max (Andress Field) is special.”

The Bull Dogs haven’t played Jeffersonville since the 2014 sectional. North lost at Jeffersonville 30-22 in the first round of the 2013 sectional and beat the Red Devils 30-20 the following year.

Jeffersonville will host East on Friday night.

“Since it’s been a couple years since I’ve seen them, I know nothing about their personnel,” Bless said. “Historically, they’re a dynamic offense, and we’ll get film and study them up.”

In Class 4A, Jennings County (2-5) will host Franklin County (5-2) in the first round on Oct. 20. If the Panthers win, they would visit Madison or Silver Creek in the semifinals.

Brown County (3-4) will play at Greencastle (4-3) on Oct. 20 in the first round in Class 3A. If the Eagles win, they would visit West Vigo or host Sullivan in the semifinals.

In Class A, Edinburgh (0-7) will host South Decatur (3-4) in the first round Oct. 20 in a rematch of a Week 5 game won by the Cougars 46-22. The winner will play Cambridge City Lincoln or No. 7 Indianapolis Lutheran in the semifinals.