Columbus North trailed Columbus East 14-10 early in the fourth quarter Friday night, and the Bull Dogs’ star quarterback was in a heap of pain.
But Trenton Kelley didn’t let a shoulder injury stop him from leading the Bull Dogs on a game-winning touchdown drive. The 59-yard march culminated on a 3-yard pass to Hunter Huser with 8:25 remaining, and North held on for a 17-16 win to even the rivalry series at 24-24.
“I thought the team had great persistency, and that’s what the coaches preach during our conditioning,” Kelley said. “It was a dogfight the whole game, but I’m proud of the team the way they pulled it out.”
Kelley, who was diagnosed with a sprained shoulder, was on the sidelines for the Class 6A No. 8 Bull Dogs’ final three offensive series. On the next-to-last series, backup Dylan England was unable to handle a snap from center and fell on it in the end zone for a safety. That brought the 5A No. 7 Olympians (0-2) within a point with 5:35 left.
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East took the punt and drove to the North 32 before turning it over on downs. With third-stringer Cody Ruble in at quarterback for the Bull Dogs (2-0), they went three-and-out.
The Olympians took over at their own 31 with 2:11 remaining, but were unable to pick up a first down, and North ran out the clock.
“What a crazy game,” North coach Tim Bless said. “Some unique circumstances, but ultimately, it’s a win, and I’m proud of our Bull Dog football players.”
The Bull Dogs defense was at its best. They held East to three first downs and 115 total yards.
The Olympians managed just 21 yards rushing on 18 carries.
“Our defense played lights-out the whole game,” Kelley said. “We had a couple unlucky plays on special teams, and field position was a big difference, but there was never any doubt in our mind about that.”
North jumped out to a 10-0 lead. A Blake Huffman 22-yard run set up a 2-yard sneak by Kelley on the Bull Dogs’ first offensive series. On its next series, North drive for a 25-yard field goal by Spencer Rivera.
East then got on the board on a bizarre play. Lining up to punt from his own end zone, Rivera couldn’t handle the snap. He picked the ball up and tried to get the punt away, but it didn’t make it out of the end zone. The Olympians’ Matt Romig fell on the ball for a touchdown.
East took the lead with 2:37 left in the first half on a 13-yard scoring pass from Cole Gilley to Dalton Back.
“Resiliency was the theme of the night for our Bull Dogs,” Bless said. “Columbus East is going to keep fighting. They were going to rise up and be opportunistic. We just had to stop the bleeding and get into halftime and calm down. We have a lot of young kids and a lot of new starters who are a little bit too emotional right now. But you put 60 men in an atmosphere like this, you’re going to have that.”
Kelley finished 17 of 27 for 151 yards and a touchdown.
“We’ve seen before, Trenton is a gutsy player,” Bless said. “He’s dinged up, and led us down there on a touchdown drive at the end.”
Blake Huffman led the Bull Dogs in rushing with 101 yards on 22 carries. The sophomore was playing in his first North-East game.
“Words can’t describe how I feel right now,” Huffman said. “I had an excellent O-line to run behind, and our offensive coordinator (Jason Perry) and all of our coaching staff did an awesome job tonight. It’s really nice to get this win.”
Gilley went 7 of 22 for 94 yards and a touchdown for the Olympians.
East’s defense and special teams — particularly the punting of Sam Thomasson — kept it in the game. Trevor Foster had an interception for the Olympians.
“I thought our defense played their tail ends off,” East coach Bob Gaddis said. “Our kicking game was sound. Offensively, we just weren’t consistent — not taking anything away from their defense. Coming into the game, I thought their defense was really good and really quick and fundamental, and we just couldn’t move very well.”
East, which lost to Whiteland in last week’s opener, is now 0-2 for the first time since 2003.
“We had a great week of practice, and I knew that our kids would hang in there and get after it,” Gaddis said. “The true test will be how we come back now. That was a tough, physical football game, and we’re going to be banged up and sore, but we just have to come back and get after it.”
