INDIANAPOLIS — Class 6A No. 7 Columbus North traveled to 6A No. 9 Southport without it’s leader in quarterback Trenton Kelley, but the Bull Dogs relied on their defense and running game to get the job done in Friday night’s Conference Indiana opener.
Kelley was forced to watch the sidelines after suffering an injury to his non-throwing left shoulder last week against Columbus East. Senior Dylan England stepped in behind center and helped lead North to a 41-36 win.
“We needed guys to step up who otherwise hadn’t played key roles,” North coach Tim Bless said. “Dylan did a great job at quarterback for us tonight. We had a lot of kids out.”
The Bull Dogs’ offense struggled to pick up yards in the first half, but needed only 74 first-half yards to put 17 points on the board in the first two quarters. North’s defense and special teams play helped keep the field short, with all three scoring drives starting from inside the Cardinals 30-yard-line.
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Nick Holt’s first-quarter interception set up a drive from the Southport 27 that ended in a field goal after the Cardinals started with a 59-yard pass from Eddie Schott to Rashawn Haskins on the first drive of the game.
Adam Behling came through on special teams with a blocked punt that set up another Bull Dogs drive from the Cardinals 27. North turned that into seven more points to take a 10-7 lead. Michael Johnson’s 6-yard run after Haskins’ second touchdown reception put North back on top at 17-14.
Southport (2-1, 0-1) was threatening to score at the end of the second quarter before a Holt deflection fell into Daveed Jolley’s hands for the Bull Dogs’ third interception of the half to keep the 17-14 lead heading into the locker room. Nash Johnson also had picked off Schott.
“It think it was everything to us,” Holt said of the first half defense. “Our offense wasn’t doing it for us, so we stepped up and got the job done.”
Holt said it felt great to see his offense do what it did in the second half, and he praised England for stepping in at quarterback. North’s first drive to start the second half was 11 straight rushing plays that ended in and England sneak for a touchdown.
That drive foreshadowed the rest of the second half, when Blake Huffman racked up 186 of his 207 yards. Huffman scored two touchdowns including one on an 82-yard breakaway.
The Bull Dogs (3-0, 1-0) jumped out to a 31-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter before a late Cardinals rally cut the lead to five, but there wasn’t enough time to pose a serious threat to the North lead.
Michael Johnson added a rushing touchdown, and England had two rushing touchdowns. England completed 6 of 12 passes for 41 yards.
