Bloomington North hasn't had much luck against Columbus North recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Cougars will look to defend their home field against the Bull Dogs at 7:00 p.m. One thing working in Bloomington North's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points in their last three contests.
Bloomington North's defense heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They breezed past Columbus East to the tune of 42-0. With that win, the Cougars brought their scoring average up to 26 points per game.
Bloomington North's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Carter Matthew led the charge by rushing for 90 yards and one score on only nine carries. Matthew's longest rush was for an impressive 57 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. John Bargen was another key passer, throwing for 175 yards on 11 of 19 attempts.
Bloomington North's run defense was locked in: Columbus East could only muster 1.2 yards per carry. The team can thank Kellen Bishop for the heroic effort on defense: he. Bloomington North's run defense has been on the up-and-up: they allowed 3.3 yards per carry earlier this season, but they've only allowed 5.9 on average over their last five games.
Kellen Bishop
| 10/03/25 vs Columbus East | 11 |
| 09/26/25 @ Jeffersonville | 4 |
| 09/19/25 vs Terre Haute North Vigo | 2 |
| 09/12/25 @ Bloomington South | 5 |
| 09/05/25 @ Terre Haute South Vigo | 9 |
| + 2 more games |
Bloomington North didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off seven passes before the game was over. Bishop picked up that interception and then proceeded to rub salt in the wound by taking it back the other way for a touchdown. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 5.6 total tackles per game. Another thorn in Columbus East's side was Lucas Rice, who picked up two sacks and made ten total tackles.
Meanwhile, Columbus North played a tough matchup on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were beaten by Bloomington South 55-24.
Bloomington North pushed their record up to 4-3 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 6.7 points on average over those games. As for Columbus North, their loss was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 4-3.
Bloomington North and Columbus North were almost perfectly matched up in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, but Bloomington North suffered an agonizing 35-34 defeat. Thankfully for the Cougars, Gino Prescott (who rushed for 155 yards and a pair of touchdowns while picking up 7.0 yards per carry) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
