With its standout running back hobbled and a sophomore at quarterback, Columbus North had trouble putting points on the board the previous two weeks.
That was the case again Friday night. The Bull Dogs were shutout for 46 minutes in a 21-7 loss to Class 3A No. 9 Guerin Catholic on homecoming.
"We knew going in they had a very athletic defense, and we were going to struggle to score a lot of points," North coach Tim Bless said. "Obviously, we had plenty of ambitions of scoring more than seven, but we knew it was going to be a tough night offensively."
For the first two quarters, the Bull Dogs defense matched the Golden Eagles, playing them to a scoreless tie at halftime. Guerin Catholic broke the offensive drought on its first series of the second half when Gus Baumgartner ran 37 yards for a touchdown.
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North tried to answer, by giving the ball to fullback Royce Lofton. Lofton sprang for chunks of yardage to move the ball into Golden Eagle territory, but Luke Hammons’ pass on fourth-and-5 fell incomplete. Several big runs by Lofton moved the Bull Dogs to the Guerin Catholic 17 on its next series, but again, an incomplete pass on fourth-and-6 ended the drive.
North’s defense then forced the Golden Eagles into a third-and-15, but Christian Gelov found Patrick Hagel behind the defense for a 63-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
Once again, the Bull Dogs drove into Guerin Catholic territory before a fourth down pass fell incomplete. The Golden Eagles then put it away when Gelov found Max McGreal for a 25-yard score on third-and-9.
North didn’t go quietly, however. Hammons, who had completed only one pass for 13 yards to that point, broke loose for a 25-yard run and completed 3 of 4 passes for 49 yards on the drive, capped by a 15-yard scoring strike to tight end Mitchel Collier with 1:31 left in the game.
"Our kids kept battling, and we’re going to come back today, and we’re going to work at it and we’re going to be a better team next week than we were this week," Bless said.
Lofton led North with 62 yards on 13 carries. Blake Huffman, who has been slowed by an ankle injury sustained in a loss to Southport two weeks ago, finished with 47 yards on 15 carries.
"For sure, he’s not 100 percent, but he’s fighting," Bless said. "He’s a great teammate giving everything he’s got, and so is everybody. We’re just doing what we can do right now."
