INDIANAPOLIS — Columbus North football coach Tim Bless couldn’t say enough good things about his defense Friday night.
“A defensive shutout hit the spot, and we had just enough offense and just enough special teams,” Bless said.
The Bull Dogs blanked Roncalli 14-0. It was the first the Rebels (0-4) had been shut out at home since a 31-0 loss to Cathedral in September 2007.
“It was a group effort, for sure, but I was really proud of how our front four played,” Bless said. “It’s really front seven or eight because we have a lot of kids that rotate in and out. They made some big plays. Roncalli has a huge offensive line, so they had us for sure on size on the roster. Our kids played their tails off, and the secondary covered.”
Giovani Alejandro broke loose for a 30-yard touchdown run to give North (2-2) a 7-0 lead with 3:20 to go in the second quarter.
“My pulling guard had the best block,” Alejandro said. “He kicked (the defender) out, and I was able to cut right under him, and it was the O-line. If I didn’t have them, I couldn’t have scored that touchdown.”
Alejandro contributed 50 yards on five carries.
“The inside wasn’t working that well,” Alejandro said. “The outside (run) was perfect.”
Junior running back Royce Lofton led the Bull Dogs with 61 yards on six carries, including a 41-yard run in the third quarter that put the ball on the Rebels 8. Eshaan Patel caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Luke Hammons to give North a 14-0 lead with 2:14 left in the third quarter.
“That was a nice bootleg by Luke and a nice touchdown pass,” Bless said.
Bless said he wasn’t sure if junior running back Blake Huffman would play. Huffman, who left last week’s game against with an ankle injury, had 27 yards on 15 carries.
“We can’t keep that kid off the field,” Bless said. “He didn’t have one of his huge yardage efforts. But his toughness was on display and I think that inspired our offense. We got a handful of backs able to produce on Friday night, and that they did. Some counter type action was big.”
Roncalli had one good shot to score in the first half, advancing to the Bull Dogs 20 before the drive stalled. The Rebels’ Owen Herndon missed a 38-yarder with 55 seconds left in the first half.
Roncalli had opportunities to score in the second half, driving into North territory twice, but came up empty.
“It was tough,” Roncalli coach Scott Marsh said. “They have a nice defensive front, linebackers that move well. They just gave us fits. We struggled to run it consistently, credit to them. We got it going in the passing game a little bit.” That’s good to see with our sophomore quarterback (Aidan Leffler) when you have to do what you do to move the ball.”
Leffler completed 19 of 32 passes for 138 yards. His main target was Kyle Lockard, who caught seven passes for 79 yards. Rebels running back Baron Huebler was held to 46 yards on 15 carries.
Defensively the Rebels limited the Bull Dogs 255 yards, just 57 passing.
