FLOYDS KNOBS — On paper, Columbus East faced perhaps its biggest challenge in the 13 1/2 seasons it has gone without a Hoosier Hills Conference loss.
The Olympians answered the challenge in a resounding way.
East jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead and went on to post a 35-7 victory at Class 5A No. 8 Floyd Central for its 93rd consecutive conference win.
“It was a huge win for the program and a huge team win,” East coach Bob Gaddis said. “We had good practices this week, and we came down here ready to play. I told our team we hadn’t played our best full game yet, and I thought we came closer tonight. I thought we were physical. We blocked and tackled well. We were just flying around having fun.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
The Olympians (4-2, 3-0) took advantage of three Highlanders fumbles, the first two of which came on their first two offensive possessions.
After East put together a scoring drive that ended with a 7-yard run by Mark McDonald, Floyd Central quarterback Tristan Polk wasn’t ready for a snap, and the Olympians recovered at the Highlanders 38. Six plays later, quarterback Malachi Parks scored on a 21-yard keeper, and East led 14-0.
The Olympians recovered another fumble at their own 35 on the next series, but couldn’t capitalize and had to punt. Floyd Central drove into East territory, but turned it over on downs.
East then drove to the Highlanders 15 in the final minute of the first half when Gaddis dug into his bag of tricks. Wide receiver Crase Bergman took the pitch on a reverse, then pulled up and threw to wide open tight end Grant Cooper in the end zone, and the Olympians led 21-0 at halftime.
“We’ve had that in every year,” Gaddis said. “We emphasized it this week. That was the trick play we were going to use this week, so we knew we could run it.”
Floyd Central (4-2, 2-1) put together its only scoring drive when it got the ball to start the second half. Polk hit Caleb Slaughter for a 19-yard touchdown on fourth-and-5.
After a three-and-out, the Highlanders got the ball back and drove into East territory. But the Olympians turned them over on downs.
Six plays later, McDonald scored on a 14-yard run, and it was 28-7 with 10:29 left in the game.
Parks added a 7-yard score with 5:03 remaining to account for the final margin.
McDonald finished with 147 yards rushing on 20 carries. Parks added 101 yards on 19 carries and completed 3 of 5 passes for 26 yards.
Floyd Central’s Wenkers Wright, who ran for more than 2,000 yards last year, gained 174 yards on 23 carries. But 70 of his yards came on the Highlanders’ final drive when some of East’s starters were out of the game.
“I thought our defense played much better, probably our best defensive game of the year,” Gaddis said. “(Wright is) an explosive back, and we knew he was going to get some yards, but we held him in check for the most part.”
