Columbus North’s Parker Elmore hauls in a touchdown pass while being defended by Whiteland’s Eli Taylor (14) and Ian Lewis (3) Friday at Max Andress Field at Columbus North High School.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
If last year’s season-opening blowout at eventual Class 5A state champion Decatur Central was a statement win for Columbus North, Friday night’s rout of Whiteland in its 2025 opener was a confirmation that the Bull Dogs aren’t going away.
Asher Ratliff completed 24 of 29 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns — all three scores to newcomer Parker Elmore — and North rolled to a 49-7 victory.
“We played with a fire under us,” Ratliff said. “We played hard, and we came out here with a reason to go compete and had a good scheme. We’re a veteran group that has a lot of playmakers, and we went out there and executed like we should have.”
The Bull Dogs outgained the Warriors 484-167 and had 26 first downs to seven for Whiteland. The Warriors’ only score came on a 42-yard run by Jordan Palmer on the first play after North had fumbled on a punt return.
“They’re very exotic on defense,” Whiteland coach Darrin Fisher said. “They did a great job. They did a phenomenal job on defense tonight of keeping us guessing. Their multiplicity on defense was an issue for us tonight because of our lack of communication. That’s a good football team.”
Things didn’t start out great for the Bull Dogs, who fumbled on the opening kickoff return. The Warriors took over at the North 29, but four plays netted one yard.
The Bull Dogs then drove 72 yards in 10 plays. Ratliff hit Elmore for 35 yards on third-and-15. On second-and-goal from the 8, Ratliff flipped a shovel pass to Elmore, who took it around the right side for the touchdown.
“Obviously, we started off slow with the fumble, but our defense came out and got a stop,” Elmore said. “Offense went down and scored and set the tone for us the rest of the game.”
North held Whiteland again and then drove to the Warriors’ 7-yard-line, but the drive stalled. After another Whiteland three-and-out, the Bull Dogs drove for their second score. Ratliff found Charlie Parsons for 26 yards to set up a 9-yard TD pass to Elmore midway through the second quarter.
The Warriors punted following another three-and-out, but this time, they recovered a fumble at the North 42. Palmer took it from there to put them on the board.
The Bull Dogs bounced back with two more touchdowns before the half. Ezekiel Scruggs looked to be stopped in the backfield, but reversed field and went around the left side for a 27-yard score. Cole Finney then recovered a fumble at the Whiteland 21, and Scruggs went over from the 1 with 10 seconds left in the half to make it 28-7.
“We have a veteran, mature group,” Ratliff said. “We have three-year starters, four-year starters all over, really mature guys, good kids. They’re down-to-earth, and they know that the game’s not over. It’s 48 minutes of football. We battled back. We knew what we were able to do, and we went out there and did it.”
“The game didn’t start the way we wanted it to with the fumble on the opening kickoff,” North coach Logan Haston added. “But our defense didn’t panic one bit. We got a great stop right there, and then our offense just went to work after that. It’s a mature team, handled adversity very well there and then the rest was kind of downhill from there.”
Ratliff scored on a 15-yard keeper on the Bull Dogs’ first possession of the second half, then threw to Elmore for a 25-yard touchdown to trigger a running clock with 1:20 left in the third quarter. North’s final score came on a 3-yard run by James Scruggs with 1:00 left in the game.
Elmore, an Indiana University recruit playing in his first game in almost two years following an ACL injury and transfer from Jennings County, finished with eight catches for 116 yards and the three touchdowns. He also started on defense, returned a kickoff and nearly blocked a punt.
“It felt great to be out there,” Elmore said. “I hadn’t been out there in a couple years. I just like to keep confidence in myself and know I have my quarterback behind me.”
James Scruggs carried 12 times for 100 yards. Ezekiel Scruggs had 11 carries for 63 yards and two scores.
“I think the inside run was really good,” Ezekiel Scruggs said. “I have to be small with my pullers and trust the linemen to get those first downs for me. Everything was working.”
Parsons, who missed all of last season after a knee injury in the Blue-White scrimmage, caught five passes for 93 yards and went 7 for 7 on extra points.
“We were firing on all cylinders offensively tonight,” Haston said. “We had a really good balance of run and pass, and Asher operated the offense at a very high level. Defense, that’s a very tough offense to go against. They do a lot of weird things, but we were very disciplined with our keys all night, and we made plays.”
Columbus North 49, Whiteland 7
Whiteland;0;7;0;0;—;7
Columbus North;7;21;14;7;—;49
CN—Parker Elmore 8 pass from Asher Ratliff (Charlie Parsons kick), 6:41.
CN—Elmore 9 pass from Ratliff (Parsons kick), 6:50.
W—Jordan Palmer 42 run (Noah Pope kick), 5:38.
CN—Ezekiel Scruggs 27 run (Parsons kick), 3:03.
CN—E. Scruggs 1 run (Parsons kick), :10.
CN—Ratliff 19 run (Parsons kick), 9:17.
CN—Elmore 25 pass from Ratliff (Parsons kick), 1:20.
CN—James Scruggs 3 run (Parsons kick), 1:00.
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Whiteland: Palmer 8-92, Liam Paul 5-37, Tyree Nolan 6-21, Clayton Ratliff 3-15, Braydon Yates 1-3, Colton Shipp 2-3, Jonah Upchurch 1-0, Dane Kunz 1-(-4). Columbus North: J. Scruggs 12-100, E. Scruggs 11-63, Ratliff 5-27, Max Wilson 1-6, Elmore 2-1.
PASSING — Whiteland: Upchurch 2 for 11, 15 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions. Columbus North: Ratliff 24-29-291-3-0.
RECEIVING — Whiteland: Peyton Williams 1-12, Paul 1-3. Columbus North: Elmore 8-116, Parsons 5-93, Morgan Knapp 5-41, Jacob Rice 3-25, Cohen Long 2-10, Jerry Likens 1-6.
