Coaches often talk about playing well in all three phases of a football game, and Friday night, Columbus North got exactly that.
The Bull Dogs scored touchdowns on offense, special teams and defense in rolling to a 54-13 win against Southport in its home and Conference Indiana opener.
“It was a fun game because all three phases contributed greatly,” North coach Tim Bless said. “When you get a special teams score, that’s fun football. Obviously, offense was very productive from start to finish, and defense definitely played great football aside from the one series.”
That one series came on the Cardinals first drive of the game. Bryce Calvert found Jihad Wilson behind the Bull Dog defense for a 59-yard touchdown and an early 6-0 Southport lead.
“Credit them, they made a nice play,” Bless said. “They had good protection. We had a blitz. The blitz didn’t get home, and the quarterback threw a great pass. We were OK in coverage. The kid just made a good play.”
After that, it was all North. The Bull Dogs (2-1, 1-0) forced three-and-outs on the Cardinals next four possessions and built a 27-6 halftime advantage.
“Our resiliency on defense, we didn’t flinch,” Bless said. “We came to play on the next series and played great football the rest of the game.”
Following Southport’s initial score, North answered with a nine-play, 60-yard drive, capped by a 10-yard fade pass from Luke Hammons to Tyler Blythe on third-and-goal. Cooper Horn added the extra point, and the Bull Dogs were off and running.
Hammons kept it himself for a 4-yard run around the right side the next time North had the ball. The Bull Dogs had a chance to add to the lead when they had it first-and-goal from the 1, but went backwards on the next two plays, then fumbled at the 4.
The North defense came up big again, and Hammons scrambled 24 yards for his second touchdown of the night and a 21-6 lead. Then, after forcing the Cardinals’ fourth consecutive three-and-out, Dawson Adams blocked a punt at the 5, and Blythe picked it up at the 2 and ran it in for the score.
That gave the Bull Dogs a 27-6 halftime advantage.
“After beating East, we had a lot of energy, so we were just going into the practices during the week like, ‘We have to just come out of the gate and just dominate,” Blythe said. “We executed perfectly. We just dominated on everything, run game, passing game. Our offensive line just dominated.”
North added to its lead in the third quarter when it fielded an onside kick attempt and marched for another score. Hammons sneaked in the final yard for his third touchdown of the night.
After that, the Bull Dogs turned to their top running back. Dyllan Redmon took a swing pass from Hammons and went 41 yards for a 40-6 lead. Redmon then went 9 yards for another score.
North’s defense then put its final touchdown on the board when Trent Bodart stepped in front of a Calvert pass and took it 62 yards to the house.
Hammons completed 11 of 13 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns and carried 10 times for 35 yards and two scores. Redmon led the Bull Dogs on the ground with 14 carries for 85 yards and had three catches for 75 yards and a score.
“I think we executed great tonight,” Hammons said. “O-line blocked well, and I had all the time in the world to pass. Dyllan found the holes well, and all the receivers got open.”
With leading receiver Keegan Castetter (three catches, 24 yards) getting bottled up, Blythe was Hammons’ leading target on Friday. Blythe had six catches for 72 yards and also carried four times for 29 yards.
“We anticipated that they would be all over Keegan after his good performance last week (in a win at Columbus East),” Hammons said. “So if someone else is open, I have three other receivers to hit. It was a fun night.”
