Columbus North set the tone for Friday night’s season-opening blowout win on the opening drive of the game.
Purdue recruit Brady Allen completed a 64-yard pass to Brayden Malone on the first play of the game to put Gibson Southern deep in Bull Dog territory. But after the Titans got it to the 1-yard line, North held on three consecutive plays to turn them away.
Two plays later, Blake Huffman ran 87 yards for a touchdown, and the rout was on. The Bull Dogs built the lead to 34-0 at halftime and went on to post a 48-6 victory against the Class 3A No. 6 Titans.
“That (goal line stand) was huge,” North coach Tim Bless said. “We talked about that at halftime. Had that gone differently, had they scored in the tight zone, it could have been an entirely different football game. I’m so proud of how our defense bowed up and made that stop with their back against the wall, and it really set the tone for the rest of the game.”
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Gibson Southern came in with much hype, mainly thanks to Allen. Allen completed 20 of 35 passes for 204 yards, but North held the Titans out of the end zone until Allen threw a 6-yard touchdown pass with 38 seconds left in the game.
“I’m thrilled to death with how our defense played,” Bless said. “I couldn’t have estimated that performance out of our defense. Hats off to Brady Allen. He’s legit. We haven’t seen an arm that strong in awhile. But our defensive pressure knocked him off his spot all night. He still stayed alive and made some throws, but I thought our secondary was excellent in coverage, and our linebackers did what they had to do.”
The Bull Dogs countered with a dominant run game. They outgained Gibson Southern 411-36 on the ground. Blake Huffman carried 15 times for 215 yards and two touchdowns, and quarterback Luke Hammons ran 12 times for 131 yards and a pair of scores.
Much of that was due to the play of tight end Reed Duncan, tackles J.J. Montgomery and Neal Likens, guards Elijah Sebastian and Mason Branstetter and center Kokkao Yee, who was filling in for the injured Isaac Woodruff.
“Blake is very special, and Luke is a great running quarterback, a dual-threat quarterback, but it all starts up front,” Bless said. “We knew the strength of our offense was going to be our offensive line. They put that on display tonight, for sure.”
The Bull Dogs got the ball to the Titans 1-yard line on their second possession, but the drive stalled, and they had to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Carter Ward.
After holding Gibson Southern on downs, North drove for a 7-yard touchdown run by Huffman. Hammons kept it for a weaving 44-yard keeper on the next possession to make it 24-0, and Royce Lofton went over from the 2 for a 31-0 lead.
Ward kicked his second field goal of the game, a 29-yarder, with 1 second left in the first half to give the Bull Dogs a 34-0 lead at the break.
Getting the ball to start the third quarter, North drove for another score. Hammons hit Jaxson Scruggs for 15 yards on thrd-and-goal from the 15 and a 41-0 advantage.
With the lead at least 35 points, that set up a running clock for the remainder of the game. Hammons added a 7-yard touchdown run with 1:09 left in the third quarter to make it 48-0. The Titans then drove for their only score of the night on a possession that lasted all but the final 38 seconds of the fourth quarter.
North scored on all eight of its possessions.
“It’s a celebratory locker room,” Bless said. “Just think about what the offseason was for all athletes. It’s a lot of uncertain times, and we got to play football today. Obviously, we worked so hard. These kids were working out on their own during the quarantine, and it’s great to see you get the fruits of your labor. We had a great effort tonight.”
