NEW ALBANY — Columbus East football coach Bob Gaddis hit a big milestone Friday in its Hoosier Hills Conference game against New Albany.
Gaddis earned his 200th win as the Olympians coach when they routed the Bulldogs 49-0.
“It’s kind of soaking in, and you don’t think about those things until the season is over, but I’ve been fortunate to get hired here at Columbus East, and its been a great fit for our family,” Gaddis said. “We’ve had tremendous coaches and tremendous players during that run. You don’t win games without players — I can guarantee you that. Mostly, our families have supported those players, and our kids have bought in what we do. For every single one of those boys, it was those wins, too.”
East (3-2, 2-0) looked to strike on its first possession driving into New Albany territory, but then a fumble occurred to give the ball to the Bulldogs.
After New Albany had to punt, on the first play of the Olympians next possession, Mark McDonald ran 74 yards to the end zone to give East a 7-0 lead after the extra point from Nathaniel Hedrick was good.
After the Bulldogs had to punt again, the Olympians drove down the field with McDonald on a 43-yard run and into New Albany territory. The drive was later capped off when quarterback Cole Gilley found Dalton Back in far left corner of the end zone to extend the lead to 14-0.
The Bulldogs decided to change strategies and went ground and pound to chew up the clock. It was successful since they held the ball for almost eight minutes between the first and second quarters. Fortunately for East, the drive stalled at the 15-yard line. On fourth down, a field goal attempt was no good.
On the ensuing possession, the Olympians scored once again with the duo of Back and Gilley connecting on a 22-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 21-0.
“We started off pretty slow (in the first half). We didn’t have a lot of energy,” East junior linebacker Parker Harrison said. “In the second half, we got pumped up and put things together.”
The Bulldogs looked to strike before the half with a big run to the 15-yard line. The final play in the half was an incomplete pass to the end zone.
To begin the second half, the Olympians popped up the kickoff, and it landed in the hands of Tyler Settle. East took advantage with a Lance Greiwe 16-yard touchdown to make it 28-0.
“We have to give it to our offensive line because they blocked well for us,” Greiwe said. “Every week, they work really hard and keep getting better, and I’m grateful for that.”
After another New Albany punt, East scored off a McDonald one-yard run to it 35-0, and that initiated the running clock for the rest of the game. The Olympians’ Ty Uphaus ran a pair of 9-yard touchdown runs for the 49-0 final.
