Columbus East’s Chase Zapfe, from left, and Nico Alvarez celebrate with Jared Brooks after Brooks caught a touchdown during a football game against Seymour at Columbus East High School in Columbus, Ind., Friday, Sept. 2, 2022.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
This time, there was no second-half letdown.
After being outscored a combined 50-0 in the second half of its first two games, Columbus East was the agressor in the final two quarters Friday night. The Olympians scored 20 unanswered points in the second half to post their first win of the season, a 34-12 Hoosier Hills Conference triumph against Seymour.
“We talked a lot about our guys having fun,” East coach Eddie Vogel said. “I think they were putting a lot of pressure on themselves, and when you don’t play loose, you’re kind of waiting on some bad things to happen. Tonight, I challenged our guys to go out and be able to play loose and have some fun. It’s funny, when kids turn themselves loose, we got to see the kind of football team I think we can be this year.”
The game turned on three consecutive special teams plays early in the second quarter that went in the Olympians’ favor.
After both teams were held on their opening possessions, the Owls (1-2, 1-1) struck first with an 11-yard pass from Bret Perry to Jack Pennington. When East (1-2, 1-0) jumped offsides on the extra point, Seymour decided to go for two, but the Olympians stopped them short of the goal line.
East then out together a 15-play, 93-yard drive to take a the lead. Ethan Duncan hit tight end Blake Borkhardt for the final 12 yards, and Nathaniel Hedrick’s extra point put the Olympians ahead 7-6.
The Owls answered right back in two plays. Perry found Pennington streaking down the sidelines for a 61-yard strike. Again, Seymour went for two, but East was able to sack Perry.
A key moment in the game then happened with the Olympians facing fourth-and-4 at the Seymour 46. Coach Eddie Vogel decided to punt, and Seth Lankey pinned the Owls at the 3-yard-line.
The Owls managed only two yards in three plays, and Devon Tekulve took the punt back 29 yards for a touchdown and a 14-12 lead.
East then used another big special teams play when it recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Three plays later, Duncan found Jered Brooks, who made a leaping catch in the back of the end zone midway through the second quarter.
“We were able to cash in, and that was the difference,” Vogel said. “We’ve had some of those where we weren’t able to cash in and score touchdowns or put points on the board, so that was huge. We had some big plays from a lot of guys tonight.”
The Olympians led 21-12 at the half.
East extended its lead when it took the second-half kickoff and drove for a 32-yard field goal by Hedrick.
After recovering another Seymour fumble, the Olympians scored again, with Duncan sneaking in from the 1. Hedrick added a 25-yard field goal the next time they had the ball, making it 34-12.
“We’ve worked all season for it and just haven’t been able to put a complete ballgame together,” Duncan said. “It was nice to put 48 minutes together. We were just told to have fun, so we came out here and have fun. We put up 34 points. Our defense gave up a couple big plays, but they had some good stops, an that really helped the momentum swing.”
Duncan completed 9 of 14 passes for 124 yards and his first two touchdown passes of the season. East also ran for 306 yards, led by Javeon Smith with 28 carries for 133 yards and Tyler Weller with 20 carries for 109 yards.
“I thought we were physical and dominated up front on both sides of the football,” Vogel said.
Vogel hopes getting the first win under its belt can help propel the team to a long winning streak.
“I think it has infused our players with a lot of energy, and they understand what kind of football team they can be,” Vogel said. “But I’m less of an outcome person than I am of the effort and doing stuff the right way. I thought we made a step in the right direction tonight.”
BOXSCORE
Seymour;6;6;0;0;—;12
Columbus East;7;14;10;3;—;34
S—Jack Pennington 11 pass from Bret Perry (run failed), 6:17.
CE—Blake Borkhardt 12 pass from Ethan Duncan (Nathaniel Hedrick kick), :06.
S—Pennington 61 pass from Perry (run failed), 11:07.
CE—Devon Tekulve 29 punt return (Hedrick kick), 7:07.
CE—Jered Brooks 18 pass from Duncan (Hedrick kick), 5:58.
CE—Hedrick 32 FG, 8:13.
CE—Duncan 1 run (Hedrick kick), 5:50.
CE—Hedrick 25 FG, 11:17.
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Seymour: Alex Schlatterer 6-21, Perry 9-21, Mark Henson 3-11, Nick Wheeler 1-0, Pennington 1-0. Columbus East: Javeon Smith 28-133, Tyler Weller 20-109, Duncan 13-62, Caaden Gault 2-25, Brennan Cowan 1-6, Seth Lankey 1-(-29).
PASSING — Seymour: Perry 9 for 26, 196 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions. Columbus East: Duncan 9-24-124-2-0.
RECEIVING — Seymour: Pennington Pennington 4-116, Wheeler 2-41, Kyle Hileman 2-40, Henson 1-(-1). Columbus East: Tekulve 1-33, Nico Alvarez 3-31, Brooks 2-29, Chase Zapfe 2-19, Borkhardt 1-12.
