TERRE HAUTE — The Columbus North football team would not be denied the outright Conference Indiana title Friday night when it easily rolled through Terre Haute South for a 50-6 win.
“We came off the bus ready to play some great football in all three phases,” North coach Tim Bless said. “We made excellent plays with special teams that set us up in great field position and made some key plays with that unit. The defense was stellar all night, and our offense put up 50 points.
“They’ve earned the right to celebrate the Conference Indiana championship because it’s huge. It’s something we’ve strived for and achieved. Let’s enjoy this moment. Yes, we plan on playing a lot more football. We have a huge challenge in front of us and we’ll worry about that at the appropriate time,” he added.
On the Bull Dogs’ first possession, quarterback Trenton Kelley found Preston Terrell for a 35-yard touchdown pass, and North (8-1, 5-0) led 6-0 after the missed extra point.
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The Braves (3-6, 2-3) were forced to punt on the ensuing possession, but a short punt gave the Bull Dogs good field position. North took advantage when Blake Huffman ran in a 6-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 13-0.
On Terre Haute South’s next possession, it turned the ball over on downs. The Bull Dogs then settled for a 23-yard field goal from Carter Ward to make it 16-0.
The only mistake North had the entire game was when Kelley threw a pass that went off the hands of a receiver and was intercepted by Landon Carre of the Braves.
Following the interception, Terre Haute South fumbled the snap on a fourth down play, and Landon Robbins recovered the ball to give the Bull Dogs one last chance at a score before halftime. Kelley then completed a 17-yard touchdown to Terrell to make it 23-0 at halftime.
“The game plan was to go out and do everything that we could to get that conference championship,” Robbins said. “It’s been a long time, a long ride with these boys. We all came to play.”
To start the second half, Kelley threw a 34-yard pass to Huffman to make it 30-0. Huffman later ran it in 18 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 37-0 and virtually sealing North’s outright conference title.
Huffman added his fourth touchdown later in the third quarter on a 7-yard run, and Carter Ward kicked field goals of 25 and 33 yards in the fourth quarter to complete the Bull Dogs’ scoring.
North now has a week off before traveling to Center Grove on Oct. 26 for the first round of the sectional.
“The week off is a good thing. It recharges the batteries,” Bless said. “I’m so proud of these guys for being the young men that they are. Our kids feel like we have unfinished business over there. Regardless of how the draw was going to be, we know Sectional 8 runs through Center Grove and we look forward to that huge challenge.”
