COLUMBUS — Jalen Williams knows how to get a party started.
Columbus North had taken a 14-7 lead with 8:15 left in the second quarter when Class 5A No. 2 Bloomington South unleashed its offensive wrath, going on a 42-point outburst over the next 24 minutes.
Williams was a highlight reel all night long against the Bull Dogs for the second year in a row, actually one-upping the three-touchdown performance he had last year against them as a North Cougar.
This time, the senior snagged seven passes for 160 yards and a school-record tying four TDs as South pulled away for a convincing 55-24 win on Friday, Oct. 3. His first touchdown with 6:53 left before half, second with 5:38 left and another with 52 seconds left built a 28-17 halftime lead.
“They didn’t want to make the adjustment, so we just kept taking advantage of what was going on,” Williams said.
For good measure, South took the opening kickoff of the second half. It ended with Williams making his best catch of the night, a one-hander for his fourth score, which tied Jay True’s four-TD outing in 1976.
“There’s not one less surprised than us,” South coach Gabe Johnson said. “Because we know who he is, and we know who he is in practice. I’ve got to stop being so hard on our corners. He’s a tough out.
“He’s playing really well right now. He’s a matchup problem. They started putting three guys on him and that opens up everything else and makes us hard to defend.”
Quarterback Duncan Combs threw for 10-of-18 for 198 yards but the 1-2 punch of Braylen Townsend (20-152, 2 TDs) and Shaun Cooper (14-89, 2 TDs) and South’s offensive line play and hurry-up offense left Columbus North stunned.
The win makes South the outright Conference Indiana champ in the league’s final season.
“It was a slow start, but I think our kids responded really well,” Johnson said. “I’m happy for them and proud of them. They worked really hard this week, and I thought we took a physical game to a physical team outside of the first six minutes of the game.
“We came on the road to a 6A program that’s a really good team on their homecoming and got after it. We have to do that. That’s the tournament. You have to go on the road and do those things. I’m happy we won the conference and all that, but I think that seeing our guys play well and make plays and be in the right spot and not get too down was just really good.”
Turning points for South
The offense put together two important drives that tilted the outcome.
Up 21-14, the defense forced a three-and-out and the Panthers turned that into some breathing room when Combs found Williams for a 65-yard score on the first snap of the ensuing possession, giving South 14 points in just 75 seconds.
The second key drive came late in the third after the Bull Dogs scored to get within 34-24.
“We just had to tighten up there (defensively) and move the ball in the second half,” defensive end Luke Arnett said.
South turned to its ground game, using both Townsend and Cooper to cover all but eight of the 69-yard drive, Townsend storming in from the 11 with 9:44 left for a 17-point lead.
It forced CN to go for it on fourth down at its own 16. The pass failed and one snap later, Cooper scored to make it a rout.
“We just have a lot of depth,” Williams said. “Our offense is so versatile. We can run it, throw it. Any of our receivers, we’ve got it all.”
Defense settles in, figures it out
Columbus North (4-3, 2-1) just couldn’t keep up. The Bull Dogs were forced into a pass-only mode much of the game as quarterback Asher Ratliff finished 22-of-34 for 207 yards and two TDs but was picked off and sacked twice, getting loose for just 28 yards on the ground.
Indiana commit Parker Elmore tried his best to keep up with Williams, catching 10 passes for 103 yards, including a 32-yard score. But running back Ezekial Scruggs didn’t have near the luck last year’s starter did, gaining 87 yards, most of it late in the fourth.
“We work on our reads all the time in practice, so before a play starts, our linebackers communicate really well so we kind of know what’s going on,” Arnett said. “So, we let our eyes and reads take care of it.”
CN goes through plenty of pre-snap motion and South handled it well.
“The thing that we wanted to do is not panic,” Johnson said. “Let’s just get lined up, lets make our calls and play fast football. So I don’t think you saw that in the first two or three series, I think you did see that the rest of the game.”
Columbus North had plenty of success early, gaining 201 yards by halftime. But the Panthers were able to contain the short passing game, allowing just one completion of over seven yards after halftime.
The defense came up with a big hold late in the first half, forcing a 35-yard field goal and pitched a shutout in the fourth.
BLOOMINGTON SOUTH 55, COLUMBUS NORTH 24
Bloomington South (7-0, 5-0) 0 | 28 | 6 | 21 — 55
Columbus North (4-3, 2-1) 7 | 10 | 7 | 0 — 24
FIRST QUARTER
CN: Asher Ratliff 8 run (Charlie Parsons kick), 6:54. CN, 7-0
SECOND QUARTER
BS: Shaun Cooper 5 run (Cohen Fischer kick), 11:31. Tied, 7-7.
CN: Sam Perry 36 pass from Ratliff (Parsons kick), 8:15. CN, 14-7.
BS: Jalen Williams 39 pass from Duncan Combs (Fischer kick), 6:53. Tied, 14-14.
BS: Williams 65 pass from Combs (Fischer kick), 5:38. BS, 21-14.
BS: Williams 21 pass from Combs (Fischer kick), :52. BS, 28-14.
CN: Parsons 35 FG, :00. BS, 28-17.
THIRD QUARTER
BS: Williams 9 pass from Combs (kick blocked), 8:12. BS, 34-17.
CN: Parker Elmore 32 oass from Ratliff (Parsons kick), 2:24. BS, 34-24.
FOURTH QUARTER
BS: Townsend 11 run (Fischer kick), 9:44. BS, 41-24.
BS: Cooper 16 run (Fischer kick), 7:55. BS, 48-24.
BS: Townsend 9 run (Fischer kick), 3:30. BS, 55-24.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
Bloomington South (41-267): Braylen Townsend 20-152, Shaun Cooper 14-89, Duncan Combs 3-17, Hayden Clark 4-9.
Columbus North (25-122): Ezekiel Scruggs 13-87, Asher Ratliff 10-28, Sam Perry 1-5, Parker Elmore 1-2.
PASSING
Bloomington South (10-18-0-198): Combs 10-18-0-198.
Columbus North (22-34-1-207): Ratliff 22-34-1-207.
RECEIVING
Bloomington South: Jalen Williams 7-160, Sam Giles 1-15, Noah Poellnitz 1-14, Townsend 1-8.
Columbus North: Elmore 10-103, Morgan Knapp 6-37, Cohen Long 2-24, Jacob Rice 2-8, Perry 1-36, Scruggs 1-2.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Jalen Williams, No. 2 Bloomington South football soar past Columbus North to win CI title
Reporting by Jim Gordillo, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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