Keaton Lawson
Bloomington South showed why it is one of the state’s top teams in Class 5A Friday night.
Columbus East had no answer for the Panthers offense, which scored on nearly every meaningful possession to hand the Olympians a 42-7 season-opening loss.
Both teams went scoreless in the first quarter, but Bloomington South got the offense going on the second possession when running back Braylen Townsend had a big run to put the Panthers at the 10-yard line. Shaun Cooper punched it in on the next play with a 10-yard run to put Bloomington South ahead 7-0 with 10:44 left in the second quarter.
After East had to punt, the Panthers when to Townsend often, and it would lead to a 1-yard Townsend run to extend the lead to 14-0 with 6:42 left in the second quarter. The Olympians turned it over on downs on their next possession, which gave Bloomington South good field position. The Panthers took advantage when quarterback Duncan Combs found an open Jalen Williams for the touchdown pass to make it 21-0 with 2:21 left in the second quarter.
Bloomington South, which was ranked No. 4 in the Class 5A preseason coaches poll, kept the momentum going to start the second half with a heavy dose of Townsend once again as he ran it into the end zone from two yards out for his second touchdown of the game to make it 28-0 with 9:31 left in the third.
East had its best drive on the opening possession of the second half. The Olympians converted on six first downs and drove down the field. East eventually found the end zone when quarterback Kyson Villarreal found Keaton Lawson for the 5-yard touchdown to make it 28-7.
It was all Panthers the rest of the way as Townsend scored his third touchdown of the night with a 39-yard run with 1:46 left in the third. On the next Bloomington South possession, Jonathan Winstead carried the ball for a 22-yard touchdown with 10:42 left in the fourth quarter to trigger a running clock the rest of the game.
The Olympians will face another tough test when they host crosstown rival Columbus North, which routed Whiteland its season opener 49-7.
