NEW ALBANY — Every once in a while, a good team needs a challenge.
When a team has been as dominant as Columbus East has against Hoosier Hills Conference opponents, it has rarely had the opportunity to have to rise to an occasion. On Friday night, Class 4A No. 1 11 New Albany gave the Olympians that chance. And East passed. It rose. It survived.
A Tucker Schwarze interception with just 2:42 left in the game seemed to guarantee that. But an Olympian fumble on the next play put the outcome back in the air. Two plays later, a Dylan Clark-to-Kaden Callaway 37-yard touchdown pass pulled the Bulldogs to within a single point with just 1:54 remaining.
It would take an stand on a 2-point conversion attempt by New Albany for Class 4A No. 6 East to escape with a 20-19 HHC victory, its 80th consecutive conference win.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
“We are an inexperienced team with a lot of new starters, going on the road against a good football team,” East coach Bob Gaddis said . “They had a great game plan and took it to us in the first half. We came out with no emotion or fire.”
The first half of play was dominated by the Bulldogs (3-2, 1-2). They dominated time of possession, allowing the Olympians (3-2, 3-0) to have the ball only four times.
With those four offensive possessions, East managed just one scoring drive while punting three times. Two of the possessions ended without gaining a first down.
New Albany, on the other hand, was masterful at running a ball-controlling offense. Although their first drive of the game ended without points, the Bulldogs managed to run 12 plays and run 7:21 off the clock. After forcing the Olympians to punt, New Albany once again marched down the field. Following a Clark 34-yard scramble to the East 37, Collin Sutton ran a reverse in from 17 yards out to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead.
The Olympians were able to gain only one first down on their next possession before having to punt it away again. Sam Thomasson was able to pin New Albany back at its 10-yard line. From there, East was able to force the Bulldogs into a rare first-half mistake when Clark threw an interception, which was made on a one-handed play by Jonah Wichman to give possession back to the Olympians.
From there, East opened up the second quarter with a quick scoring strike when Cole Gilley found Cody Horner for a 23-yard touchdown to tie the score at 7-7 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
Following the Olympian kickoff, New Albany once again employed a methodical, ball-controlling offense, bleeding the clock. Using running back Austin Oppel to churn out yards on the ground and Clark’s ability to complete short passes with pinpoint accuracy, the Bulldogs drove down the field, chewing up over seven minutes of game clock before Clark sneaked in from a yard out to give New Albany its second lead of the night, 13-7, where the score stood as the halftime horn sounded.
Following the break, however, East looked to be inspired. The Olympians promptly drove down the field in 2:30, using just six plays, including a long pass play to Horner, who fumbled the ball, but a hustling guard, Dalton Anderson, was able to recover, saving the possession for East.
“It was a screen play, so I was chasing our receiver. I saw the ball fly up in the air and knew it was important that I try to recover it for us,” Anderson said.
East running back Mark McDonald finished off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge. The Thomasson extra point gave the Olympians their first lead of the night, 14-13.
The defensive side of the ball was also a much different story for the Olympians in the second half. They were able to bottle up Oppel and put pressure on Clark, which helped them contain the Bulldog offense and keep them off the scoreboard until the late touchdown play. East forced New Albany into three three-and-outs and four punts in the second half.
“They were good up front and ran the ball well in the first half, but I thought we play much better in the second half. We are a very young team. We are going to keep learning, and we are going to keep getting better,” Gaddis said.
East’s final score came with 5:55 remaining in the game. Using their running game, the Olympians were able to work their way down the field before Lance Greiwe galloped in from three yards out, giving them a 20-13 lead and setting up the dramatic finish.
