TERRE HAUTE — Columbus North already had the Conference Indiana football title wrapped up going into Friday night’s regular-season finale, but the Bull Dogs were in no mood for a letdown.
The Bull Dogs used a 28-0 second quarter to break open a tie game and went on to post a 42-21 victory at Terre Haute South to finish undefeated in the Conference for the second time in three years.
“We talked about last week when we clinched the conference, we were very proud of that moment, but our guys wanted to come out and play good football, and mission accomplished,” North coach Tim Bless said.
The Bull Dogs (6-2, 5-0) put up 327 yards in the first half, including 202 on the ground. Blake Huffman finished with 19 carries for 149 yards and three touchdowns, while Luke Hammons completed 7 of 9 passes for 130 yards and a score and ran nine times for 80 yards and a touchdown.
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“We want to reestablish the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball,” Bless said. “When you’re downhill running, and inside zone is your bread and butter, you want to establish that, and we did that.”
The Bull Dogs scored on their first possession. A Royce Lofton interception and 33-yard return set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Dyllan Redmon.
North had to punt on its second possession. The Bull Dogs looked to have stopped the Braves (2-7, 1-4), but on fourth-and-15 from the North 35, Caleb Stultz found James Mallory in the end zone, and the game was tied at 7-7.
“At the end of the day, when the ball is on the ground, we have to go,” Bless said. “We have to be ready to play football, and we were a little bit sluggish early. We never play on a grass field, so there’s a little bit of an acclimation on that and you also have to give your opponent credit. Terre Haute South had a great game plan coming out. They changed some formations up and showed us some things we hadn’t seen on film, so credit to them.”
The Bull Dogs took over from there. Hammons hit Hayden McDaniel with a 45-yard scoring strike to cap a six-play, 80-yard drive and give them the lead for good. After a Terre Haute South three-and-out, North went 50 yards in five plays, with Hammons taking it the final 13.
The Bull Dogs then pulled away by scoring twice in the final 3 ½ minutes of the first half. Huffman capped a three-play, 52-yard drive with a 4-yard run, then capped a six-play, 61-yard drive with a 1-yard dive. Both of those final two drives were all on the ground.
North erased any doubt when it took the second-half kickoff and marched 50 yards in six plays. Huffman ran 34 yards for his third touchdown of the night, setting in motion a running clock for the rest of the game and ending the night for most of the Bull Dog starters.
The Braves punched in two touchdowns to make the final score closer. Stultz hit Mallory for 49 yards midway through the third quarter, and Jacob Rutledge went over from the 1 midway through the fourth period.
