D'Andre Black shines as Bloomington South romps Columbus North: 'It's just what I do'

COLUMBUS, Ind. — D'Andre Black was avoiding tacklers the way he skips by hurdles during track season.

The senior wide receiver is thoroughly enjoying every minute this football season brings after seeing his junior year cut short in Week 5 with a torn ACL at Southport. He toiled many hours to come back just in time to earn a seventh-place medal in the 110 hurdles and that work has carried over to the football field.

What Columbus North's secondary was giving, Black was taking in Friday night's shocking 49-14 romp to finish up Conference Indiana play for Class 5A No. 3 South. He caught seven passes, some short and some downfield and turned them all into big plays, totaling 153 yards and three touchdowns.

"Just the right place," Black said. "Coming out early on, I knew the corners weren't very good so I just attacked them, making my moves, cutting inside when I could and taking it vertically when I could. We hit two posts on them. We didn't gameplan on it, but it's just what I do."

"I get to sit there and just throw it five yards and watch him run everywhere," South quarterback Jarrin Alley said. "I don't have to do too much. It's pretty fun."

South missed his presence as a deep threat last year as Black and Alex Shaevitz are definitely stretching defenses this time around.

"He was excellent," South coach Gabe Johnson said. "And someone needs to get on him to play on their football team or run for their track team or both. He's a heck of a player.

"He makes our passing game go. We've got some compliments around him for sure, but he's a tough matchup. It's fun to watch him. He's tough, he's good with the ball in his hands and he makes plays."

Black has a certain future at the next level in either sport.

"I'm feeling great," Black said. "It's a blessing that I got back and playing football again, a game that I love. Just doing what I love to do out here.

"I'm stronger and faster than I was last year so I'm better than I was last year. That rehab and stuff got me better."

"Tough, explosive," Alley said. "You wouldn't even know he hurt himself, because there's no fear."

Easy pickings for Alley

South quarterback Jarrin Alley also had a night to remember. He went 19-of-25 for 331 yards and five touchdowns, with 13 completions going for 10 or more yards.

"Great quarterback to have, great buddy to have," Black said. "Love that kid. We've been playing together for so long and he's got his time now. He's balling out now."

"It just kind of happened," Alley said. "The gameplan was just to do what we do, run, throw, they gave it to us and we took it. D'Andre all the receivers made some crazy plays."

It didn't take long for coordinator Aaron Daniel and Alley to see what needed to happen. CN came after Alley, but he slid around the pocket well to avoid the rush, was never sacked, and at one point, hit on 10 straight passes that covered 221 yards.

"Plays like a really mature quarterback," Johnson said. "He really thrived today.

"We thought we knew what they were going to and our offensive staff did a great job just getting into who they are. They changed their defense so it was more similar to ours and I think that helped our offense because it's what our offense has seen every day."

Defense to offense

The average starting field position for South in the first half was its own 48, while Columbus North had to start every drive inside its own 20 between Bryce Taylor's kickoffs into the end zone and great coverage.

"That field advantage has been consistent and huge was us every game," Johnson said.

The Panthers clamped down on the running game, holding the Bull Dogs to just 67 yards on 17 carries and harried QB Asher Ratliff into 6-of-17 passing and two interceptions, both by Miles McKay, both led to South scores.

"Having confidence in the run-stopping really helps me because I have more time to read and sit back," McKay said. "It helps me gather time and make plays."

That made it really easy for the offense to start piling up points.

"Special teams was crucial," said McKay, who also returns punts. "We always talk about having better field position than the other team. That's really a key to the game. It helps them score and helps us, too."

Suddenly, it started to look just like last year's 46-15 win over Columbus North, and it was South's first road win in the series since 2015.

Second-quarter blowout

The game went from a defensive stalemate to a 42-7 lead in the last seven minutes of the second quarter to trigger the running clock. During that span of time, the Panthers displayed all its weapons in a 35-point period.

"Running clock isn't something we strive for," Johnson said. "But we do strive for execution and playing well and sometimes when that happens, it works out. I think Columbus North is a very good football team. I know their coach would probably say they didn't play like it today. So for us to come out the way we did is very encouraging."

It started after CN's fourth punt without gaining a first down. Alley hit Black for 26 yards, then 27, leaving just three for Adams to cover for a 14-0 lead.

The Bull Dogs put together a response and an Eagles quarterback push sneak on third-and-2 turned into a 22-yard touchdown gallop after he somehow snuck through unnoticed.

Game on, right? No. Turned out the Dogs were just poking the bear. Well, that and South had a complete handle on what CN was trying to do defensively and Alley started ripping off big chunks of yardage, including a 38-yarder to Tysen Smith. Just 1:25 later, Black was dancing into the end zone with a 28-yard TD.

More: Inside info helps linebackers Ralph Rogers, Ben Ridner fit into Bloomington South defense

McKay's first pick led to tight end Jake Arnett's nine-yard TD catch and a 28-7 lead with 2:15 left to half and the feeding frenzy was on.

CN had to punt after taking just 35 seconds off the clock and South struck again, with a 30-yard touchdown carry by Adams with 1:08 still showing.

McKay then did his best D'Andre Black impression with a terrific diving interception at the CN 39 and South capitalized just 30 seconds later when Adams snuck out of the backfield and took a pass 33 yards to make it 42-7.

"Once we got one, it just kept coming," Alley said. "Got to the point it felt like, you can't stop us."

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on X (Twitter) @JimGordillo.

BLOOMINGTON SOUTH 49, COLUMBUS NORTH 14

Bloomington South (6-1, 4-1 CI) 7 | 35 | 7 | 0 — 49

Columbus North (3-4, 2-1) 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 — 14

FIRST QUARTER

BS: D'Andre Black34 pass from Jarrin Alley (Bryce Taylor kick), 1:04. BS, 7-0.

SECOND QUARTER

BS: Gavin Adams 3 run (Taylor kick), 11:26. BS, 14-0.

CN: Asher Ratliff 22 run (Bryce Luttrell kick), 7:34. BS, 14-7.

BS: Black 28 pass from Alley (Taylor kick), 6:09. BS, 21-7.

BS: Jake Arnett 9 pass from Alley (Taylor kick), 2:15. BS, 28-7.

BS: Adams 30 run (Taylor kick), 1:08. BS, 35-7.

BS: Adams 33 pass from Alley (Taylor kick), :30.7. BS, 42-7.

THIRD QUARTER

BS: Black 22 pass from Alley (Taylor kick), 4:48. BS, 49-7.

FOURTH QUARTER

CN: Ratliff 18 run (Luttrell kick), :58.6. BS, 49-14.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Bloomington South (25-96): Gavin Adams 9-59, Ben Morrison 8-19, Lucas Waldon 1-13, Anthony Perez 3-4, Noah Hernandez 1-(-9).

Columbus North (26-139): Asher Ratliff 11-79, Gino Prescott 14-52, Braylon Thoman 1-8.

PASSING

Bloomington South (19-25-0-331): Alley 19-25-0-331.

Columbus North (9-24-2-81): Ratliff 9-24-2-81.

RECEIVING

Bloomington South: D'Andre Black 7-153, Waldon 4-34, Tysen Smith 3-57, Adams 2-40, Jake Arnett 2-19, Morrison 1-18.

Columbus North: Jordan Briner 2-25, Thoman 2-24, Morgan Knapp 2-15, Garrett Long 1-17, Charlie Parsons 1-4, Prescott 1-0.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IHSAA football: Bloomington South romps Columbus North