JD Rotert
An injury-depleted Columbus East team couldn’t get anything going offensively, defensively or on special teams Friday night against Bloomington North.
The Cougars had their way with the Olympians in the first half that led to a running clock in the second half, and East took a 42-0 loss.
The loss gives the Olympians a 19-game losing streak outside the Hoosier Hills Conference. Their last non-HHC win was against Franklin Central Oct. 30, 2020 in the sectional.
After East (3-4) punted on its initial drive, Bloomington North (4-3) kept running the ball with a heavy dose of Brayden Johnson. He was rewarded by running for a 24-yard touchdown to put the Cougars up 7-0.
The ensuing possession was the best drive of the first half by the Olympians. They picked up a couple first downs and eventually got the ball deep into Cougar territory. The drive eventually stalled with a turnover on downs.
Bloomington North scored again on the ensuing possession with a run from Carter Matthew to extend the lead to 14-0 with 10:31 left in the second quarter.
The gut punch for East occurred on the first play on the next possession when quarterback Kyson Villarreal threw an interception to Kellen Bishop, who returned it 18 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-0 Bloomington North with 10:21 left in the first half.
The Olympians pinned the Cougars deep off of a punt to put them at the 11-yard line. The bad field position didn’t matter as Bloomington North kept driving and picking up first downs. It was eventually capped off when quarterback John Bargen ran it for an 8-yard touchdown to make it 28-0.
On the second possession of the second half for Bloomington North, Noah Ferree had a 1-yard touchdown run to make it 35-0 and trigger a running clock for the rest of the game. Matthew ran for his second touchdown of the game for the Cougars with less than 3:30 to play.
The Cougars outgained East 330-58. JD Rotert led the Olympians with 35 yards rushing on 14 carries.
East will look for better results Friday when it travels to Jeffersonville in an HHC contest, and then will wrap up the regular season by hosting Bedford North Lawrence Oct. 17.
Bloomington North 42, Columbus East 0
Columbus East;0;0;0;0;—;0
Bloomington North;7;21;7;7;—;42
BN—Brayden Johnson 24 run (Andres Firactive kick), 8:53.
BN—Noah Ferree 2 run (Firactive kick), 10:31.
BN— Kellen Bishop 19 interception return (Firactive kick), 10:21.
BN—John Bargen 7 run (Firactive kick), 2:34.
BN—Ferree 1 run (Firactive kick), 4:36.
BN—Carter Matthew 3 run (Firactive kick), 3:52.
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Columbus East: JD Rotert 14-25, Keatin Roberts 4-9, Jackson Miller 1-4, Kam Combest 1-(-2), Kyson Villarreal 9-(-9). Bloomington North: Matthew 10-97, Johnson 13-55, Bargen 1-7, Ferree 2-3, Rashon English 1-1.
PASSING — Columbus East: Villarreal 2 for 10, 16 yards, 0 touchdowns, 1 interception; Combest 1-1-5-0-0. Bloomington North: Bargen 9-17-167-0-0.
RECEIVING — Columbus East: Dallas Dykstra 1-13, Paxton Thompson 2-8. Bloomington North: Nathan Walker 2-57, English 4-51, Hunter Chitwood 1-33, Matthew 1-13, Luke Freel 1-13.
