First quarter
Kokomo opened the game with the ball but punted it away to Columbus East after just five plays.
East quarterback Josh Major found the end zone 37 seconds later. He scored on a 1-yard run. It took just four plays for the Olympians to travel 52 yards downfield to take a 7-0 lead.
The Wildkats took over at their own 35 yard line. Kokomo ran the ball 10 of its 11 plays. The Wildkats took 5 minutes, 12 seconds to drive 65 yards to tie the game on a 5-yard run by running back Jack Perkins.
The Olympians punted the ball after six plays on their following possession.
East racked up 67 yards on 10 plays while the Wildkats had 94 yards on 18 plays.
Second quarter
The Olympians started the quarter with a 12-play drive that went 74 yards in 3:29 to regain the lead at 14-7. Jaedin Miller punched it in on a 2-yard run.
East scored another touchdown after defensive end Ty Henderson forced a fumble that was recovered by Caleb Pettit on the Kokomo 24-yard line. It took just three plays for Major to score his second touchdown on a 5-yard run to put East up 21-7.
A 28-yard pass from Kokomo quarterback Kyle Wade to Jack Perkins got the Wildkats offense back on track. They drove 80 yards in nine plays to score on a 16-yard pass to Luke Cameron with 21 seconds left in the half.
East ran three plays to end the half with a 21-14 lead.
East ended the first half with all 184 of its yards on the ground. Kokomo has 134 rushing yards and 65 passing for a total of 199.
Third quarter
East started the second half with a three-and-out.
The Wildkats had a solid first drive before it stalled and ended with a turnover on downs at the East 34-yard line.
Jaedin Miller started the Olympians’ second drive with an 11-yard run. Major connected with wide receiver Klayton Brummett for a 44-yard touchdown pass six plays later, and East built its lead to 28-14. The Olympians traveled 66 yards in 2:24.
Jack Perkins responded with a 40-yard run on the first play of the following drive for Kokomo. The Wildkats called six consecutive running plays that got them to the East 18-yard line. The third quarter ended with Kokomo facing a fourth-and-2.
East ended the quarter with 226 rushing yards and 43 passing for a total of 269 yards. The Wildkats had 289 yards with 222 on the ground and 67 through the air.
Fourth quarter
The Wildkats opened the quarter by converting on a fourth-and-2 with a 16-yard pass that put them on the East 2-yard line. Luke Cameron ran in it in to cut the East lead to 28-21.
The Olympians drove 36 yards in seven plays before Jaedin Miller broke free for a 40-yard touchdown run on the following drive. The Olympians had a 35-21 lead with 8:26 left to play.
The Wildkats had the ball on their own 8-yard line before Noah Hurlockâs 36-yard run brought the ball closer to midfield. The Olympians came away with a sack on the next play that forced a second-and-24. Kokomo was forced to punt two plays later.
East took over with 5:56 left and continued to move the ball on the ground for another score that took 3:39 off the clock. Miller scored on a 1-yard run that sealed the Class 5A state title for the Olympians.
Kokomo had one final drive with 2:17 remaining and scored on a 19-yard pass with two seconds left. It wasn’t enough as East walked away with a 42-28 victory.
