The Columbus North football team takes the field for a game against crosstown rival Columbus East Aug. 29 at Bob Gaddis Stadium at Columbus East High School.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
It will be Columbus vs. Bloomington Friday night.
While Columbus East travels to Bloomington North for a non-conference contest, Columbus North will host Class 5A No. 2 Bloomington South in a game that likely will decide the Conference Indiana title.
The Bull Dogs (4-2, 2-0) will be playing a home game for the first time in nearly a month. They’ve been on the road the past three weeks, falling at 4A No. 8 Roncalli and 6A No. 4 Carmel before routing Terre Haute North 42-0 last week.
“It was good to get back to our winning ways after a couple of tough games,” Columbus North coach Logan Haston said. “I thought we traveled well, going all the way to Terre Haute. We handled our business the right way. It was good to take care of things on offense and defense and special teams and kind of reestablish that we are a good football team.”
Bull Dogs senior quarterback Asher Ratliff has completed 117 of 169 passes for 1,632 yards and 22 touchdowns, with senior Parker Elmore catching 45 passes for 722 yards and 12 scores. Junior Ezekiel Scruggs has carried 61 times for 362 yards and six touchdowns.
The Panthers (6-0, 4-0) feature a balanced offense. Junior Duncan Combs has completed 68 of 87 passes for 1,028 yards and nine touchdowns. Senior Braylon Townsend has carried 99 times for 643 yards and 12 scores, and senior Jalen Williams has 23 catches for 366 yards and three touchdowns.
“We’re excited for the challenge,” Haston said. “They’re a very good football team. They’re a complete team. They do things really well all-around, but we’re really excited for the opportunity back at our home place. We think we have a really good game plan in place, and it comes down to our players being willing to execute. But these are the kind of games that you live for if you’re a competitor, so I think our guys are really up for the task.”
Columbus North has a couple of players who might return from injuries Friday. Junior cornerback Davonte Degraffenried, who sustained a severe concussion against Roncalli, is questionable. Senior wide receiver-kicker Charlie Parsons, who broke his collarbone early in the season, might be able to kick.
Columbus East’s Bige Asher wraps up Floyd Central’s Sebastian Robertson Friday at Columbus East High School.
Tommy Walker | For the Republic
Meanwhile, East (3-3) also has been hit with a rash of injuries. The Olympians were missing six starters, including top receiver Keaton Lawson, who broke his collarbone in practice last week, by the end of Friday’s 56-28 loss to Floyd Central.
“We’ve been kind of riddled with injuries here these last couple weeks, and we have a lot of guys down,” East coach Eddie Vogel said. “We have a lot of guys that we’ve kind of had to move around, but football is pretty unique in that you’re playing a lot of guys, and it’s usually the ‘Next man up.’ We’ve had a lot of guys kind of step in. We have Dallas Dykstra that played both ways last week and had a really good game offensively and defensively. So we’re looking at this as an opportunity for guys to play on Friday nights.”
Senior Kyson Villarreal has completed 66 of 108 passes for 991 yards and 12 touchdowns and has carried 51 times for 252 yards an five scores. Junior JD Rotert has carried 66 times for 241 yards an seven touchdowns. Dykstra, a junior, caught four passes for 95 yards and two scores in his first offensive action of the season against Floyd Central.
Bloomington North senior quarterback John Bargen has completed 59 of 109 passes for 920 yards and 10 touchdowns. Junior Brayden Johnson has carried 78 times for 375 yards and two scores, and junior Rashon English has 20 carches for 343 yards and three touchdowns.
“We have to be able to go on the road and play a good Bloomington North team on Friday,” Vogel said. “They have really good skill players. They’re very similar to us on offense, as far as the scheme of what they run, and then defensively, they’re pretty physical, and they play kind of an odd-front unique defense where they play kind of a 3-3 with a robber playing in the middle, and kind of figuring out where he’s going to be at is going to be a challenge. They have some good, athletic kids, and it will be a good test for us.”
