Columbus North quarterback Asher Ratliff throws a pass on the first day of football practice Aug. 4 at Columbus North High School.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Two years ago, Asher Ratliff and Kyson Villarreal were thrust into the most important roles on their football teams as sophomore quarterbacks.
The pair of signal-callers have grown over the past two years and now enter their senior seasons as leaders of their respective squads. Ratliff will lead Columbus North into a Week 1 matchup with Whiteland Friday, while Villarreal will steer Columbus East into a season-opening battle at Bloomington South.
“Continuity is very important,” East coach Eddie Vogel said. “When you can have that same guy three years in a row, even though you take some of your lumps, you learn from each of those lumps and you kind of get better, so I’m proud of him for battling through that sophomore year. We took some lumps early last year, and Kyson and all the guys really responded to what we felt like what we could get accomplished and hit those expectations head on, and we ended with a pretty good year, and so we’ve got higher expectations this year and so we’re ready.”
Columbus East quarterback Kyson Villarreal takes part in a drill on the first day of football practice Aug. 4 at Columbus East High School.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Both quarterbacks went through growing pains as sophomores, and their teams’ records reflected that. Both quarterbacks — and teams — showed big improvements last year, when both the Bull Dogs and Olympians went undefeated in their respective conferences.
“My sophomore year, we finished 5-6, and we knew we wanted more than that, and then last year, I feel like I took a big step and we went 8-2 and were ranked in the state,” Ratliff said. “We still didn’t finish how I wanted to and how we all wanted to. It’s a new year, and I’ve grown a lot. I’ve had a whole summer to work, and I’m ready to go win a state title.”
Asher Ratliff
Ratliff has grown to 5-foot-10, 175 pounds through “lifting really hard and being intentional on what I eat.” A two-time state qualifier in wrestling, he has offers to play football at Hanover and Franklin.
“I plan on playing football in college,” Ratliff said. “Growing up, I spent more time on wrestling, but as I got into high school football and spent more time playing football, I fell more in love with the game and knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
As a sophomore, Ratliff threw for 1,368 yards and 18 touchdowns and ran for 549 yards and six scores. Last year, he threw for 1,942 yards and 22 touchdowns and ran for 425 yards and five scores.
“I’ve always been a student of the game,” Ratliff said. “Since I was a young kid, I’ve just loved to understand football and read defenses. But now, being in the offense multiple years, I can read defenses and check out of stuff and call my own plays, and coach Haston trusts me to do that and see the game how he sees it and that makes our offense function a lot better.”
“Asher has been super-cerebral, really bright at that position,” Haston added. “He’s been a dual-threat quarterback for us, but I would say what’s really separated him going into his senior season is his fire. He’s the hardest worker out on the practice field. He is just bringing tons of intensity, which is really good to see.”
Ratliff will be looking to take care of the ball a little better this year after throwing 19 interceptions over the past two seasons.
“I think because of his veteran leadership and his knowledge of our scheme, we’re able to do things with our scheme,” Haston said. “He’s cut down on his turnovers this summer, and he’s spread the wealth to a lot of different receivers. He’s making good decisions at the quarterback position.”
Meanwhile, Villarreal also has become a student of the game over the past couple of years.
“It’s a lot of film,” Villarreal said. “You’ve got to watch a lot of film to come out here and do what we do every week. It takes a lot for me. When I have that weight on my back every week, I come out here and do my best and help my team and lead everybody where we need to go.”
Kyson Villarreal
Villarreal threw for 903 yards and 10 touchdowns to go with 722 rushing yards and five touchdowns as a sophomore. The numbers improved to 1,522 yards and 16 touchdowns passing and 503 yards and eight touchdowns rushing last season.
“Sophomore year was a struggle,” Villarreal said. “It wasn’t easy. (Last year), the first two weeks were pretty tough, but that obviously tuned us up for the rest of the season. It’s all coming along now. The gears are turning, and it’s helping us out. I’ve grown up as a person, and I’ve done stuff to help me. It’s helped a lot.”
To be successful, the Olympians have to be balanced in the running and passing games. Last year, East netted 1,550 yards passing and 1,709 yards rushing to finish 6-4. In 2023, the Olympians had 994 yards passing and 1,605 yards rushing.
“He had about 2,000 total yards between passing and rushing, I believe, and we need to exceed that this year,” Vogel said. “He definitely brings the a dual threat, and the thing I like about him really is his toughness and his durability. He really brings an edge and a toughness to the quarterback position running the football and hanging in there because he hangs in there and takes a licking sometimes on pass plays, too, to be able to get rid of it. So he’s just a tough, competitive kid, and that’s what I love about him.”
Villarreal will have his top receiver back this season in senior wide receiver Keaton Lawson.
“The confidence grows, especially the guys I have deep, out wide for me like Keaton Lawson,” Villarreal said. “Those guys helped out a lot. It helps me and know I can trust those guys to go up and get the ball when I’m struggling. It helps me to throw the ball up to them. We’ve been working all summer together. We have a lot of chemistry. I’ve played with Keaton since about second or third grade. So with him being out here and helping me out, it helps everybody.”
Vogel said Villarreal has grown as a leader on and off the field.
“Guys follow him, and at the quarterback position, that’s really the most important thing,” Vogel said. “He’s gotten bigger. He’s gotten stronger. I think he’s getting more comfortable in our offense each and every year. It’s tough when you play a bunch of sophomores, which we did a couple years ago. You not going to win a whole lot of games, and we didn’t. Those guys grew up a little bit last year. We had some success in the conference. I told them in the locker room that the time is now for them. It’s time for them to leave their legacy. We’ve got a lot of guys coming back, and the expectations are high here.”
Expectations are high at North, as well.
“Our goal as a team is to go undefeated,” Ratliff said. “We just try to go 1-0 each week, and if that happens, we’ll go undefeated. We think that we can go out there and compete with anyone. This summer, we went out there and competed really well with Ben Davis and Lawrence North. Those are some of the top teams in the state, and I think as a goal, we see state championships and conference championships. We want to go out there and win.”
