Columbus East’s Dallas Dykstra (23) intercepts the ball against Bedford North Lawrence Friday at Columbus East.
Nicholas Shaw | For the Republic
It was the Columbus East defense that came up big when it mattered most.
Bedford North Lawrence had a chance to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, but an interception sealed the win for the Olympians with a 20-17 football victory on their senior night. The win gives East second place in the Hoosier Hills Conference.
“I’m just really proud of those guys executing our game plan. Defensively, offensively, and we had that one hiccup on special teams,” East coach Eddie Vogel said. “But we talked about winning ugly tonight and try to control the clock and keep their offense off the field and work for everything they got offensively. I thought we did that tonight, and I am really proud of our guys.”
The Stars (6-3, 3-2) drove to the 8-yard line on their opening possession, but then the drive stalled, and they had to settle for a 24-yard field goal to lead 3-0 with 8:42 left in the opening quarter.
The Olympians defense kept BNL off the scoreboard on the next two possessions. Brody Miller and Dallas Dykstra both collected interceptions to prevent further damage. When East (5-4, 5-1) had to punt with less than four minutes left in the second quarter, the kick was blocked, and Daxson Short made the leap to grab the ball and run it to the end zone for the touchdown to put the Stars ahead 10-7.
On the ensuing possession, the Olympians were stopped on first and second down, and BNL called a timeouts after both plays. East converted on third down and got some help from the Stars when a face mask penalty and an unsportsmanlike penalty were called to put the ball past midfield. The Olympians got two big plays from Miller to the 25-yard line and from Dykstra to the 1-yard line. Quarterback Kyson Villarreal then plowed his way with the help of his offensive linemen to the end zone on the next play for the touchdown to put East back ahead 14-10 with 39 seconds left to lead at the break.
The Olympians drove down the field again on the opening drive of the second half. The Olympians looked to have scored a touchdown but a fumbled occurred and the Stars recovered. After a BNL punt, East had great field position following a Stars penalty at the 22-yard line. A few plays later, Bige Asher made a reception just inches from the goal line. Villarreal once again went to the end zone on the quarterback keeper to go ahead 20-10 after the two-point conversion failed after deciding to go for two after a BNL penalty on the point after attempt.
The Stars responded back on the ensuing possession. They drove down the field and eventually scored when quarterback Dayson Kirby ran it in for the touchdown to cut the deficit to 20-17 with 10:39 left to play.
After the Olympians turned it over on downs, BNL had the ball deep in East territory. Kirby threw a pass, and Dykstra had his second interception of the game to put East in good field position. However, the Olympians couldn’t take advantage when Villarreal was under pressure and threw the ball in the end zone, and the pass was intercepted.
BNL had the ball with less than four minutes left. Kirby scrambled in the backfield and his pass went out of the hands of his receiver to land into the arms of Miller to eventually seal the win for East.
Vogel also appreciated his senior class, where 14 were honored before the kickoff.
“They’ve played a lot of downs, a lot of football for us,” Vogel said. “They’ve really been the backbone of our program as sophomores, juniors and seniors. We didn’t get it done this year, but we won conference last year, and they were really the backbone of that. I’m so proud, and what a way to end their high school regular-season careers by winning on senior night.”
East will have a week of rest and will visit the winner of the Seymour vs. Whiteland in the sectional semifinals Oct. 31.
Columbus East 20, Bedford North Lawrence 17
Bedford NL;3;7;0;7;—;17
Columbus East;0;14;6;0;—;20
BNL—Parker Beeson 25 FG, 8:42.
CE—Kyson Villarreal 2 run (Aarav Nihalani kick), 9:35.
BNL— Daxson Short blocked punt return (Beeson kick), 3:40.
CE— Villarreal 1 run (Nihalani kick), :34.
CE— Villarreal 1 run (pass failed), 2:56.
BNL—Dayson Kirby 6 run (Beeson kick), 10:39.
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Bedford North Lawrence: Brody Horton 18-70, Kirby 3-17, Cam Gates 1-7, Malakai Goodman 2-4. Columbus East: JD Rotert 26-120, Villarreal 13-46, Brody Miller 8-39.
PASSING — Bedford North Lawrence: Kirby 13 for 23, 156 yards, 0 touchdowns, 4 interceptions. Columbus East: Villarreal 7-16-122-0-1.
RECEIVING — Bedford North Lawrence: Jaden Gilbert 7-81, Goodman 2-35, Gates 2-26, Parker Kern 2-14. Columbus East: Dallas Dykstra 2-60, Paxton Thompson 2-41, Bige Asher 2-18, Miller 1-3.
