Columbus East has won 92 consecutive Hoosier Hills Conference games, and tonight, the Olympians might be facing the best conference team they’ve seen since that streak began.
Floyd Central is 4-1 and ranked No. 8 in Class 5A. The Highlanders’ lone loss has been at perennial Ohio power Cincinnati Elder.
"We’ve seen a lot of good teams and had a lot of close calls during that time," East coach Bob Gaddis said. "They have a lot of premier players on their team that you hear a lot of things about that we’ve played against the last couple years. I’m sure it’s a big game for them. We’re going to have to go down there and play well. As we’ve told our players several times, good teams are going to want to play their best against us in the conference."
The Highlanders have playmakers on offense. Tristan Polk is 53 of 79 passing for 1,032 yards and 11 touchdowns. Kaleb Quinichet has caught 25 passes for 505 yards and seven scores.
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Indiana State recruit Wenkers Wright, who ran for more than 2,000 yards last year, has carried 61 times for 506 yards and six touchdowns this season.
"Polk is a very accurate thrower if he has time," Gaddis said. "Wright is a really fast back. When he gets in the open field, he can really go. Their leading receiver, Quenichet, caught a lot of balls against us last year, and he’s been targeted several times this year, as well. They just have a lot of weapons."
Floyd Central is led up front by Zen Michalski. The 6-foot-6, 285-pound tackle has committed to Louisville, but recently received an offer from Ohio State.
The Highlanders run a 4-3 defense, led by middle linebacker Caleb Slaughter.
"They’ve played well on offense the last couple of years, but their defense is very good, as well," Gaddis said. "They’re very sound in the kicking game. When we’ve scouted them, they’re just a sound, well-coached football team. They just do a lot of things well."
East’s Malachi Parks has completed 25 of 54 passes for 474 yards and four touchdowns and carried 80 times for 624 yards and three scores. Mark McDonald has 88 carries for 806 yards and 15 touchdowns, and Charles Claycamp has seven catches for 110 yards and a score.
East (3-2, 2-0) will be leaving Columbus for the first time this season. The Olympians’ only road game came in Week 2 at Columbus North.
"We haven’t traveled out of town," Gaddis said. "We’re going to have to travel and get off the bus and match their intensity. I think it’s going to be really important for us to get off to a good start against them."
Bull Dogs host Patriots
Columbus North also will put an undefeated conference Indiana record on the line tonight when it hosts Terre Haute North.
The Bull Dogs (2-2, 1-0) did not play last week since Cincinnati Mt. Healthy had to fit in its conference games after Ohio reduced its season to six regular-season contests.
"Last week, we didn’t think about another opponent," North coach Tim Bless said. "It was us vs. us, our offense going against our defense and took on the Old Testament "Iron Sharpens Iron."
Since winning its first two games, Terre Haute North has lost three consecutive Conference Indiana contests. But the Patriots played a close games at Bloomington South (a 17-10 defeat) and lost to Bloomington North 24-21 last week on a last-second field goal.
"They got off to a good start, then have lost close ballgames in the conference," Bless said. "One-to-6 in Conference Indiana might be about a touchdown difference."
Terre Haute North is led by Jake Russell, who has completed 40 of 89 passes for 358 yards and two touchdowns and carried 79 times for 367 yards and nine scores.
But the Patriots are a balanced offense. They have four other players with between 100 and 170 yards rushing and six players with between 35 and 95 yards receiving.
"They kind of changed identities from Week 4 to Week 5," Bless said. "They had been an under center option-type team, and last week, they went into shotgun. They have a very athletic quarterback, and he’s equally adept rushing and passing, which we see every day in practice from our own Luke Hammons."
Hammons has completed 55 of 92 passes for 636 yards and six touchdowns and carried 56 times for 408 yards and three scores. Keegan Castetter has caught 22 passes for 369 yards and four touchdowns, and Blake Huffman has carried 75 times for 513 yards and seven scores.
Huffman returned to practice this week after missing the Bull Dogs’ Week 4 loss to Roncalli with an ankle injury and taking the bye week off.
"What we tried to do was get healthy in some spots, especially Blake," Bless said. "He’s had a good week of practice so far. The week off was really helpful."
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Jeffersonville at Columbus East
Game time: 7 p.m.
Records: Columbus East 3-2 (2-0 HHC), Floyd Central 4-1 (2-0 HHC)
Last year: East won 41-14
Last week: East beat New Albany 48-14, Floyd Central beat Jeffersonville 38-10
Coaches: Bob Gaddis is 325-142 in his 42nd year, including 207-42 in 20th year at East; James Bragg is 18-9 in his third year at Floyd Central
Prediction: Columbus East 35, Floyd Central 31
Terre Haute North at Columbus North
Game time: 7:30 p.m.
Records: Columbus North 2-2 (1-0 Conference Indiana, Terre Haute North 2-3 (0-3 CI)
Last year: Columbus North won 21-3
Last week: Columbus North did not play; Terre Haute North lost to Bloomington North 24-21
Coaches: Tim Bless is 149-99 in his 23rd year, including 137-90 in his 21st year at Columbus North; Chris Barrett is 107-155 in his 26th year, including 79-123 in his 19th year at Terre Haute North
Prediction: Columbus North 31, Terre Haute North 21
Tonight’s other area games
Connersville at Jennings County, 7 p.m. today
Brown County at Greencastle, 7 p.m.
Milan at Edinburgh, 7 p.m.
Springs Valley at South Decatur, 7 p.m.
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