Columbus North’s Sam Perry runs toward the end zone after catching a pass during Friday’s game against Bloomington South at Columbus North High School.
Tommy Walker | For the Republic
Friday night’s battle of Conference Indiana unbeatens started off well for Columbus North.
The end was a different story.
The Bull Dogs led twice in the first half, but Class 5A No. 2 Bloomington South erupted for 28 points in the second quarter, then added 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 55-24 victory and clinch the outright conference title.
“Hats’ off to Bloomington South,” North coach Logan Haston said. “That is a very good football team we just played, a team that’s complete in all three phases, and they took care of business tonight. So a lot of credit to them and their coaching staff.”
The Bull Dogs (4-3, 2-1) took the opening kickoff and drove 66 yards in nine plays, with quarterback Asher Ratliff taking it in from the 8. North then stopped the Panthers (7-0, 5-0) on downs in Bull Dog territory, but had to punt, and Bloomington South drove for the tying score.
North took the lead again on a 36-yard pass from Ratliff to fullback Sam Perry, who made a couple of nifty cuts to outrun the defense to the end zone for a 14-7 lead. But the next three Panther possessions ended in long touchdown passes from Duncan Combs to Jalen Williams.
The Bull Dogs did get on the board again on the final play of the first half on a 35-yard field goal from Charlie Parsons, who returned from an injury he sustained after the season opener, to cut the deficit to 28-17 at halftime.
Bloomington South got another Combs-to-Williams touchdown to begin the second half. North answered with a 32-yard scoring pass from Ratliff to Parker Elmore to trim the margin to 34-24with 2:24 left in the third quarter.
After that, it was all Panthers.
“The game started out great,” Haston said. “We had a lot of momentum going. They were able to recapture some of that momentum. We were able to get some points right before halftime and still keep it a competitive game, and the second half, it just got away from us.”
Combs finished 10 of 18 for 199 yards and four touchdowns passing, with all four scores going to Williams, who caught seven passes for 160 yards. Braylen Townsend carried 21 times for 148 yards, and he and Shaun Cooper each ran for a pair of touchdowns.
”We weren’t able to get stops when we needed to,” Haston said. “Offensively, we did some good stuff at times, but not enough to put points on the board.”
Ratliff completed 22 of 34 passes for 210 yards and two scores. Elmore caught nine passes for 94 yards and a touchdown, and Ezekiel Scruggs carried 13 times for 85 yards.
The Bull Dogs will travel to Bloomington North next week before hosting Terre Haute South in the regular-season finale.
“I don’t question our effort very much,” Haston said. “I think ultimately, they’re a very good football team, and they made more plays than we did. I think our culture is strong. It’s just things you have to learn from and keep playing football.”
Bloomington South 55, Columbus North 24
Bloomington South;0;28;6;21;—;55
Columbus North;7;10;7;0;—;24
CN—Asher Ratliff 8 run (Charlie Parsons kick), 6:54.
BS—Shaun Cooper 5 run (Cohen Fischer kick), 11:31.
CN—Sam Perry 36 pass from Ratliff (Parsons kick), 8:19.
BS—Jalen Williams 39 pass from Duncan Combs (Fischer kick), 6:53.
BS—Williams 64 pass from Combs (Fischer kick), 5:38.
BS—Williams 21 pass from Combs (Fischer kick), :52.
CN—Parsons 35 FG, :00.
BS—WIlliams 9 pass from Combs (kick blocked), 8:12.
CN—Parker Elmore 32 pass from Ratliff (Parsons kick), 2:24.
BS—Braylen Townsend 11 run (Fischer kick), 9:44.
BS—Cooper 16 run (Fischer kick), 7:55.
BS—Townsend 9 run (Fischer kick), 3:30.
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Bloomington South: Townsend 21-148, Cooper 13-74, Combs 2-19, Hayden Clark 4-9. Columbus North: Ezekiel Scruggs 13-85, Ratliff 10-25, Elmore 2-14, Perry 1-5.
PASSING — Bloomington South: Combs 10 for 18, 199 yards, 4 touchdowns, 0 interceptions. Columbus North: Ratliff 22-34-210-2-1.
RECEIVING — Bloomington South: Williams 7-160, Sam Giles 1-16, Noah Poellnitz III 1-14, Townsend 1-9. Columbus North: Elmore 9-94, Morgan Knapp 6-37, Perry 1-36, Cohen Long 2-24, Jacob Rice 3-17, Scruggs 1-2.
