Football Preview: Bloomington North Cougars vs. Columbus North Bull Dogs
The Bloomington North Cougars will venture away from home to face off against the Columbus North Bull Dogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Bloomington North will be looking to extend their current six-game winning streak.
If Columbus North heads into halftime all tied up, they better play a good second half: that's when Bloomington North took over last week. Bloomington North came out on top against Columbus East by a score of 28-20 on Friday.
The match pitted two dominant signal callers against one another in Dash King and Kyson Villarreal. King had a great game and rushed for 64 yards and three touchdowns. Meanwhile, Villarreal was balling out in the loss, throwing for 163 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 passes, while also rushing for 85 yards on only 12 carries.
Meanwhile, Columbus North didn't have too much trouble with Bloomington South on the road on Friday as they won 32-14. Given the Bull Dogs' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana football rankings (they are ranked tenth, while the Panthers are ranked 50th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Columbus North got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Gino Prescott out in front who rushed for 162 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.0 yards per carry. Prescott's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 119 rushing yards dating back to last season. Another signal caller making a difference was Asher Ratliff, who threw for 188 yards and two touchdowns while completing 81.8% of his passes.
Columbus North wouldn't let Bloomington South keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Columbus North can thank Jose M. Ramirez Casas and Evan Saevre for forcing both of them. Cole Finney was another major factor on D, picking up a sack and making nine total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Columbus North was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 229 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Bloomington North pushed their record up to 6-1 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. As for Columbus North, the victory made it two in a row for them and also bumps their season record up to 6-1.
Bloomington North skirted past Columbus North 38-35 in their previous matchup back in October of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Ratliff, who rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries, and also threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Bloomington North still be able to contain Ratliff? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
