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Insider: How running back depth helped No. 1 Bloomington North football stay undefeated

jim gordillo, the herald-times
·8 min read

Bloomington North's football team got some top-notch 'next man up' performances in Friday's 42-0 blistering of Columbus East.

With starting running back Kijuan Hayes held back out of precaution and backup Brayden Johnson (younger brother of school 100-meter record holder and kick returner Jaidyn), done for the year after a knee injury, the Cougars turned to freshmen Trey Scott and sophomores Noah Ferree and Seth Manning. They responded with 25 carries and 185 yards.

Scott led the way with 99 yards and two scores on 12 carries, with a long run of 67, having seen spot duty against Bedford North Lawrence and New Albany, where Hayes and Johnson went down. Ferree had nine totes for 46 yards and Manning, on his first four carries of the season, added 40.

Bloomington North’s Kijuan Hayes (22) runs past a tackle attempt from BNL’s Braden Baker (1) during their football game at North on Friday, August 26, 2023.
Bloomington North’s Kijuan Hayes (22) runs past a tackle attempt from BNL’s Braden Baker (1) during their football game at North on Friday, August 26, 2023.

Scott is already looking more and more comfortable on a varsity field, having scored his first career TD in the second quarter of the rout at New Albany. North thought of its running back position as being covered by committee and it's turning out that way with four backs (plus quarterback Dash King) at 100 yards or more.

"Trey, he's just getting better and better each time he plays," North coach Scott Bless said. "He ran with great vision. He made some great cuts on some plays.

"At times it was just a great job by the line of getting a push, so he had lots of room to run. Other times, he heard his blocks well."

The other side of the ball might have been even more impressive, holding the Olympians' QB to just a 2-of-10 outing for three yards and a pick and gave up just 65 on the ground. The Cougars also forced seven punts.

All the scoring was taken care of in the first three quarters as North led 27-0 by halftime and went on to post its first shutout since a 48-0 win over Bedford North Lawrence in Week 2 of the 2020 season and just the second since 2010.

"We played pretty lights out on defense," Bless said. "I think we controlled the line of scrimmage and did a really good job of that. The other thing is, we created passing situations, then we did a really good job with coverage and made their quarterback hold on to the ball longer than he wanted to."

Nate Hankins had three of North's five QB pressures and Graham Freund had his fourth interception of the season. The only bad news was an injury to defensive end Grey Hostetler, but Bless said no firm diagnosis was in place yet.

As a result of all that, Colts owner Jim Irsay tweeted that Bless was named the Colts/NFL (High school) Coach of the Week. The Cougars (7-0) will look to lock down another Conference Indiana win this week at home against what must be a still-stinging Columbus North squad that took a 49-14 roundhouse from South.

Bloomington North’s Dash King (2) throws a pass as Larry Staples (58) stays back for pass protection during the North-South football game at South on Friday, September 8, 2023.
Bloomington North’s Dash King (2) throws a pass as Larry Staples (58) stays back for pass protection during the North-South football game at South on Friday, September 8, 2023.

Still the (No.) 1

North remained No. 1 in the coaches poll and strengthened its hold on the top spot in the AP Class 5A poll getting 16 of the 17 first-place votes. South is still No. 3 behind former No. 1, Fort Wayne Snider (6-1), which beat Fort Wayne Northrop 49-7.

No. 4 Valparaiso (5-2) held on for a tough 26-24 win over former No. 4 (now No. 7) Merrillville. No. 5 West Lafayette Harrison defeated Indianapolis Tech 38-6. No. 6 Plainfield (6-1) bounced back with a 38-3 trouncing of Franklin.

Edgewood struggles continue

Edgewood saw the return of starting quarterback Grant Coffey to the offense, but yards were still hard to come by the 28-7 WIC loss to Sullivan last week.

Defensively, Evan Dodds (18 tackles, sack), Gunnar Caswell (14 plus an interception) and Terrance Moore were busy all night but kept Edgewood in it most of the game. The Arrows led just 14-0 at halftime and made it 21-0 before Nehemiah Strunk took the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a score.

But that was it scoring-wise as the Mustangs produced just 63 yards passing and 65 rushing against a defense that also held Owen Valley to seven points and 2A No. 2 Linton to 14.

Edgewood (1-6, 0-3) will have its hands full on the road this week with a Northview team (5-2) that has lost two straight, to 5A Terre Haute South and 3 No. 2 Guerin Catholic.

Eastern Greene’s Lane Stephens (11) and James Lewis (6) celebrate after a long punt return during the football game against Clarksville at Eastern Greene on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023.
Eastern Greene’s Lane Stephens (11) and James Lewis (6) celebrate after a long punt return during the football game against Clarksville at Eastern Greene on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023.

Road rout for Eastern Greene

Eastern Greene went on a cross-border raid to Illinois and plundered a 48-15 win at Bridgeport Red Hill.

Running back James Lewis did his usual thing, turning just 14 carries into 122 yards and five touchdowns, giving him 17 on the season. He's now over the 1,000-yard mark for the second straight season and has topped 3,000 for his career.

But quarterback Jonas Hawk stretched his wings after getting off the bus, going 12-of-19 for a career-best 220 yards and a score. His main target was Ty McKnight, who needed just three completions to cover 138 yards.

Up next are two home games, the first is Class 2A No. 2 Linton (6-1) which is an overtime two-point conversion away from being undefeated after stomping North Knox 42-0.

The IHSAA will announce its sectional draws this Sunday at ihsaatv.org and on radio at WGCL 98.7 FM/1370 AM.

According to the Sagarin Ratings, South and North are rated 1-2 (in that order by a wide margin) over Seymour and Columbus East in 5A Sectional 15; Edgewood is ranked eighth in Sectional 23 where top-ranked East Central is No. 1; Owen Valley is ranked fourth in 3A Sectional 30 behind Gibson Southern, Vincennes Lincoln and Mt. Vernon (Posey); and Eastern Greene is ranked third in 1A Sectional 48, trailing only No. 4 Providence (7-0) and Springs Valley.

Around the state

Southport ended its losing steak at 26 in decisive fashion, handing still winless Terre Haute North a 43-7 whipping. Interestingly, it came on the heels of the Cardinals' worst loss (59-0 to Bloomington South) since 2002.

Terre Haute South put together two 80-yard scoring drives in the fourth quarter to rally by Brebeuf Jesuit, 32-25. THS went to a two-back formation late and ended up with 456, 207 rushing. South is at Brebeuf Jesuit this week. Over the last 10 seasons, Bloomington South, Center Grove and Columbus East are the only teams to hit Columbus North for 40 points or more in consecutive seasons.

Around 5A: Evansville North took care of what seemed to be a surging Vincennes Lincoln program with a 31-0 blowout. The Alices had beaten Castle 26-21 two weeks ago. The Knights just beat Jasper 39-32. The Mid-State is still up for grabs with two games left, Plainfield (4-1) is just above Decatur Central, Franklin and Martinsville, who all sit 3-2. Greenwood, Mooresville and Whiteland are 2-3. Floyd Central (6-1) grabbed a 28-27 win over Bedford North Lawrence by stuffing the Stars on a two-point conversion with 47 seconds left. The Highlanders have three heart-pounding wins this season, scoring with time running out to beat Terre Haute South 34-33 in Week 2 and outlasting Seymour 50-47, in a game that featured over 700 yards of passing, scoring with 1:30 left.

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

AREA STATISTICS LEADERS

PASSING (Player, school, C-A-I-Y TDs) — Jarrin Alley, South 95-130-3-1,431 (19); Dash King 98-149-6-1,358 (14); Jonas Hawk, Eastern Greene 62-115-3-765 (5); Elijah Anderson, Owen Valley 42-91-3-549 (7); Michael Law, Edgewood 23-52-6-130 (1); Grant Coffey, Edgewood 11-40-0-116 (0).

RUSHING (Player, school, A-Y TDs) — James Lewis, Eastern Greene 106-1,035 (17); Gavin Adams, South 126-682 (10); Kyvan Bandy, Owen Valley 85-422 (3); Gabe Drew, Edgewood 78-363 (3); Kijuan Hayes, North 57-345 (3); Evan Ferkingstad, Eastern Greene 34-217 (1); Ben Morrison, South 34-198 (2); Dash King, North 57-195 (5); Michael Law, Edgewood 28-139 (2); Elijah Anderson, Owen Valley 31-170 (0).

RECEIVING (Player, school C-Y TDs) — Aidan Steinfeldt, North 33-418 (6); Cole Grupenhoff, North 29-362 (3); D'Andre Black, South 27-539 (9); Lucas Waldon, South 22-307 (4); Ty McKnight, Eastern Greene 190285 (2); Tate Bless, North 17-190 (2); Joran Brooks, North 14-360 (4); Peyton Lewis, Eastern Greene 14-171 (2); Tim Harden, Owen Valley 14-125 (0); Lane Stephens, Eastern Greene 12-191 (2); Christian Couch, Edgewood 12-91 (0); Tysen Smith, South 11-158 (0).

SCORING (Player, school, TD Pts) — James Lewis, Eastern Greene (17) 102; Gavin Adams, South (11) 66; D'Andre Black, South (9) 54; Bryce Taylor, South K 50; Jarrin Alley, South (6) 36; Dash King, North (6) 36; Aidan Steinfeldt, North (6) 36; Noah Nelson, North K 33.

TACKLES (Player, school, Solo-Tot) — Ralph Rogers, South (42) 67; Evan Ferkingstad, Eastern Greene (20) 63; Brody Teague, Eastern Greene (20) 62; Ben Ridner, South (29) 54; Evan Rogers, Eastern Greene (21) 52; Gunnar Caswell, Edgewood (10) 50; Terrance Moore, Edgewood (11) 50; Zeke Trueblood, North (18) 47; Will Breedlove, North (19) 45; Miles McKay, South (27) 44; Nehemiah Strunk, Edgewood (9) 41.

INTERCEPTIONS (Player, school Total) — Graham Freund, North 4, Ross Ogden, North 3; Camden Eaton, North 2; Owen McGovern, Edgewood 2; Miles McKay, South 2; Evan Rogers, Eastern Greene 2.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Running back depth keeps No. 1 Bloomington North football undefeated