Columbus North’s Jose Ramirez tackles Bishop Chatard’s Jack Weybright at Columbus North, Friday, Sept. 15, 2023.
For Columbus North football this week, it’s all about the elements.
Not the elements, as in the weather, but other elements such as travel and playing surface. The Bull Dogs will be making a two-hour busride Friday to play a 7:30 p.m. game at Terre Haute North.
“I think the biggest element that we face this week is the travel,” Columbus North coach Logan Haston said. “That’s been a huge talking point for us. We want to get off the bus, and we want and treat this like a business trip and be able to endure a long ride and take care of business.”
The other key element is the field. The Bull Dogs (2-3, 1-0) will be playing on grass for the only time in the regular season, so they’ve been practicing on grass this week.
“It’s a different element,” Haston said. “We want our kids prepared to play on Friday night, so we have to practice on it. That’s been our mindset this week. We talk all the time about being better in the element, and this is a literal element of grass vs. turf, so we have to practice and prepare for it.”
Columbus North is coming off back-to-back losses to Indianapolis parochial powerhouses Roncalli and Bishop Chatard. Haston thought the Bull Dogs made progress in Friday’s 28-3 home loss to Class 3A No. 1 Chatard.
“I think despite a potentially better team (than Roncalli) with Chatard, we actually performed a little bit better,” Haston said. “I thought we played harder. We obviously didn’t get the result that we wanted, but the improvement we made from one week to the next in terms of how we practiced, how we prepared and how we played on a Friday night, we definitely showed some progress.”
While Columbus North’s defense put together a solid performance, the lone points on offense came on a school-record 47-yard field goal from Bryce Luttrell.
“It was a big, exciting hit for Bryce,” Haston said. “I’m really proud of him. He’s worked so hard this offseason and gone to a lot of camps, so it’s pretty cool for him. His growth from junior to senior year has just been insane.”
Terre Haute North (0-5, 0-3) has gotten off to a slow start this season. The Patriots have lost eight in a row dating back to last season and were beaten 49-12 last week at 5A No. 2 Bloomington North.
Sophomore Harrison Wetzel has completed 65 of 119 passes for 634 yards, with two touchdowns and seven interceptions, and leads the Patriots with 29 carries for 294 yards and a score. Senior Kam Baker has 17 catches for 173 yards.
For the Bull Dogs, sophomore Asher Ratliff has completed 52 of 98 passes for 389 yards and four touchdowns and carried 48 times for 157 yards and a score. Junior Gino Prescott has carried 42 times for 349 yards and three touchdowns, and junior Braylon Thoman has 24 catches for 226 yards and two scores.
Columbus North knows it cannot look ahead to matchups the following two weeks with 5A No. 5 Bloomington South and at 5A No. 2 Bloomington North in meetings that will decide the Conference Indiana title.
“This is the next step in our goal of winning a conference championship,” Haston said. “We know that goal is still up for grabs for us, but we’re trying not to look too far ahead. We know we have to take care of things one game at a time.”
