Ethan Duncan
FLOYDS KNOBS — Columbus East football struggled getting thing going offensively Friday night when it faced Floyd Central.
The Highlanders celebrated their homecoming night, and those emotions showed as they pulled off a 14-12 Hoosier Hills Conference upset over the Olympians for it’s first win in the series since 2003.
After East had to punt on its first possession, Floyd Central had decent field position. After converting a couple third downs to keep the drive alive, the Highlanders were faced with a 4th-and-3 and converted with a catch at the 5-yard line. Three plays later, on fourth down, quarterback Tristan Robertson ran it in for the 1-yard touchdown to put Floyd Central ahead 7-0 with 4:35 left in the opening quarter.
Both offenses then became stagnant for a few drives. It wasn’t until late in the first half that the Olympians had their best drive of the game. East finally got into Floyd Central territory following a penalty. Quarterback Ethan Duncan threw a couple of completions to get it to a goal to go situation. On third down, Duncan’s scramble to the right side was inches short of the goal line. The Olympians went for it, and Duncan punched it in for the touchdown. However, the extra point attempt was no good to leave the score 7-6.
On the ensuing possession, the Highlanders made a couple great passes to get near the goal line in the final 30 seconds. Robertson’s first attempt to punch it in came up short. Robertson then tried again, and he made it past the goal with 19 seconds left in the first half to extend the lead to 14-6 at the break.
Both teams couldn’t get anything going offensively on their first two drives of the second half. The special teams of the Olympians gave the team the break they needed when a Floyd Central punt attempt was blocked and recovered for a touchdown to cut the deficit 14-12 with 2:20 left in the third quarter. East then decided to try for the two-point conversion. Duncan tried to run it in, but came up short trying to tie the game.
Facing a fourth down at midfield and the Olympians trailing with just over six minutes left to play in the game, they went for it and converted. A few plays later, the Olympians fumbled the ball and the Highlanders recovered. Floyd Central then chewed up some time on the ensuing possession, but eventually punted the ball back to East with 2:20 left in the game.
The Olympians drove down the field to set themselves in possible position to for a field goal, but then fumbled. The Highlanders then were able to run time down giving the Olympians only a failed attempt at a hail mary.
Next up for the East is a home matchup with Bloomington North on Friday, which will be the Olympians’ Homecoming.
