Football Preview: Bloomington North Cougars vs. Columbus East Olympians
Two dominant signal callers in Dash King and Kyson Villarreal are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Bloomington North Cougars will take on the Columbus East Olympians at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Bloomington North comes in on five and Columbus East on four.
Bloomington North is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed by New Albany at home to the tune of 52-7 on Saturday. With the Cougars ahead 31-7 at the half, the match was all but over already.
Bloomington North got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Shaun Cooper out in front who rushed for 65 yards and three touchdowns. The team also got some help courtesy of Noah Ferree, who rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown on only 13 carries.
Bloomington North's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Will Breedlove and Zachary Barrow. Breedlove is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last ten games he's played dating back to last season. Another thorn in New Albany's side was Ross Ogden, who picked up a sack, forced a fumble, and made eight total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, everything went Columbus East's way against Floyd Central on Saturday as Columbus East made off with a 34-14 win. The result was nothing new for the Olympians, who have now won three matchups by 20 points or more so far this season.
Villarreal was his usual excellent self, rushing for 89 yards and three touchdowns. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in September of 2023. Another player making a difference was Thomas Houpey, who rushed for 137 yards while picking up 7.6 yards per carry.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Columbus East was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 262 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 87.7 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last three games they've averaged 245.7.
Bloomington North pushed their record up to 5-1 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. As for Columbus East, their win bumped their record up to 4-2.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Bloomington North has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 236.7 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Columbus East struggles in that department as they've been averaging 166.7. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything came up roses for Bloomington North against Columbus East in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, as the team secured a 42-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Bloomington North since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
