Columbus East’s Laird Stidham (23) and Jack Smith (55) wrap up Floyd Central’s Tristan Robertson during a game Friday at Columbus East High School.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
Columbus East couldn’t get any momentum going at all Friday night against Class 5A No. 9 Floyd Central.
The Olympians were outplayed on both sides of the ball, thus resulting in a 28-3 loss with the Highlanders spoiling Homecoming night for East.
The loss snaps a two-game Hoosier Hills Conference winning streak for the Olympians.
“Tonight, we just didn’t execute on either side of the ball,” East coach Eddie Vogel said. “We talked about having a great week of practice. We weren’t great this week, and it showed tonight.”
Floyd Central (5-1, 3-0) didn’t take long to get on the scoreboard as they took advantage of good field position near midfield that was capped off when quarterback Tristan Robertson found Isaac Kaiser for a 25-yard touchdown to go ahead 7-0 after Cole Jones made the extra point.
The Olympians (2-4, 2-2) were helped by a couple of pass interference penalties that brought them to midfield. Three plays later, however, they were forced to punt. Once they regained possession, the drove the ball down the field, but couldn’t find the end zone. A Skylar Bailey field goal made it 7-3 with 1:51 left in the opening quarter.
The Highlanders drove down the field on the ensuing possession. Robertson called his own number and scored on the 10-yard quarterback keeper to extend the lead to 14-3 with 9:18 to play in the first half.
After East had to punt on its next two possessions, Floyd Central made one last push to extend the lead. They didn’t help their cause when a penalty was called that negated a touchdown. After a another false start penalty drove them back another five yards, Robertson threw it to Kaiser, who made the leaping catch for a 20-yard score with 39.9 seconds left to make it 21-3 at the half.
The points were hard to come by in the second half. Penalties and stalled drives were the theme in the second half. However, The Highlanders added on to the lead in the fourth quarter. Floyd Central stayed with the running game and found a open hole with Sebastian Robertson running for the 29-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 28-3 with 6:41 remaining in the game.
On the ensuing possession, the Olympians turned the ball over on downs, and the Highlanders ran out the remaining 4:32 to end the game.
East takes a week off from conference to play but it won’t get easier as they take on a sectional foe at 5A No. 2 Bloomington North on Friday.
