By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
COLUMBUS – All week long, even during the bus ride to the regular-season finale, Brayden Tidd knew something was wrong. His coach Spidey sense was tingling. His warnings went unheard or unheeded. And there was nothing amazing or Marvel-ous about Bedford North Lawrence’s disappointing performance.
In this feature flick, in a surprise twist, the antagonist doing the most damage was the mistake-prone Stars, who found no way home.
Columbus East, that supervillain in orange, celebrated Senior Night with a 20-17 triumph over BNL on Friday night. Kyson Villarreal scored three touchdowns, all of them coming off turnovers or drive-sustaining penalties, as the Olympians claimed second place in the Hoosier Hills Conference and momentum for the postseason.
BNL (6-3 overall, 3-2 in the HHC) seemed like a team from another multi-verse. Two promising first-quarter drives ended in frustration, two fourth-quarter chances to commit a football crime and steal a road win from the grip of defeat ended with turnovers.
Tidd was concerned about motivation and focus for this dead-week clash, with the looming sectional absorbing all the mental energy, and it played out in a worst-case scenario. BNL’s offense got stuck in its own mess of webbing. Four turnovers, 11 penalties. That’s why East (5-4, 4-1) got to shoot off all the postgame fireworks.
“You can’t turn the ball over a gazillion times and win the ballgame,” Tidd said. “You can’t stay on the field because of penalties for talking. That’s not winning ballgames. It’s a tough place to play, but it was lack of focus. It didn’t look like they were ready to go.”
East, forced to adjust its attack after losing most of its receiving corps with recent injuries, wanted a “dirty” game – run the ball, manipulate the clock, muck up BNL’s dangerous passing game. It could not be done better. The Olympians converted mistakes into points, J.D. Rotert gashed out 116 rushing yards, and they picked off four passes.
“Credit them for executing their game plan to perfection, draining the clock on us,” Tidd said.
“Our defense played really well,” East coach Eddie Vogel said of a unit that had been allowing 32 points per game. “One of the keys for us was controlling the line of scrimmage. We knew we had to run the football, run some clock on them. We were able to get them stopped enough, get the quarterback off his spot and make him throw it to us a few times.”
BNL had two early chances to take control. The first drive was almost perfect, with Dayson Kirby completing his first five passes. The last of that flurry, to Jaden Gilbert, set up first-and-goal, but a third-down pass was tipped away by East’s Isaac Fields in the end zone, forcing the Stars to settle for Parker Beeson’s 25-yard field goal.
The next drive was another threat, as Kirby hit Malakai Goodman for 30 yards on the left sideline to create another first down inside the 10. But two plays later, Kirby’s end-zone pass was interpreted by Brody Miller.
East turned that turnover into its first score, going 80 yards in 13 plays. Villarreal scrambled 13 yards to convert a third down, then found tight end Paxton Thompson for 32 yards. Villarreal bulled over from two yards out for a 7-3 lead.
Two possessions later, the Stars ripped momentum back. Cutler Chastain swooped in to block a punt, and Dax Short snatched the ball out of the air and rumbled 16 yards for a shock-play touchdown, giving BNL a 10-7 lead with 3:40 left in the half.
That didn’t last long. East went 80 yards – aided greatly by two BNL penalties (face mask on a tackle for loss, unsportsman conduct for voicing displeasure with that flag) on one play. Villarreal zipped a 15-yard pass to Dallas Dykstra, then punched in his second touchdown for a 14-10 lead with 39 seconds left.
“That was huge,” Vogel said. “Penalties hurt Bedford, especially that drive. We just kept playing for 48. We told our guys it would be a 48-minute game.“
BNL dodged a knockout punch by recovering a Rotert fumble at the 2 to end the first East drive of the second half, but was not as fortunate the next time. The Stars were flagged for pass interference on a fourth-down incompletion, and Villarreal powered home again for a 20-10 advantage late in the third quarter.
The Stars battled back with their best possession. Gilbert’s kickoff return set up a short field, and Kirby found Cam Gates for 17 yards. Two plays later, Kirby scrambled away from pressure, rolled left and darted into the end zone from 6 yards as BNL clawed within 20-17 with 10:39 remaining.
BNL had two late chances, one after a fourth-down stop, another after Driven Axsom’s interception in the end zone. Both ended with Kirby interceptions. He was 14 of 25 for 154 yards with the four picks.
“He does a really good job with his first read, so we wanted to take that away with different looks,” Vogel said. “When he pulls the ball down and runs around, you tend to lose track of stuff. He’s a really good quarterback and their receivers are as good as we’ve seen. We were able to corral them and not give up a bunch of big plays.”
East pounded out 19 first downs and 199 rushing yards. Gilbert paced the BNL offense with 7 catches for 81 yards while Brody Horton had 71 rushing yards. But the mistakes were compounding and costly.
“This hurts,” Tidd said. “Let it hurt, then get right back at it. We can make a run, I believe in this team. We just have to pay attention to details and come ready to play every week, not pick and choose.”
Floyd Central clinched the HHC title with a 42-0 win over New Albany.
The Stars will now shift their focus to the Class 4A sectional. They will start chasing that goal with a road trip to Jennings County next week. The Panthers (2-7) closed with a 35-21 loss at Jeffersonville.
Bedford NL 3 7 0 7 – 17
Columbus East 0 14 6 0 – 20
First quarter
BNL – Parker Beeson, 25 field goal, 8:42
Second quarter
CE – Kyson Villarreal, 2 run (Aarav Nihalani kick), 9:35; BNL – Dax Short, 16 blocked punt return (Beeson kick), 3:40; CE – Villarreal, 3 run (Nihalani kick), 0:39
Third quarter
CE – Villarreal, 1 run (pass failed), 2:56
Fourth quarter
BNL – Dayson Kirby, 6 run (Beeson kick), 10:39
Team statistics
BNL – First downs 16 (7 by run, 9 by pass); Rushing 22-90; Passing 14-25-4-154; Total yards 244; Fumbles 2 (lost 0); Penalties 11-65
East – First downs 19 (12 by run, 4 by pass, 3 by penalty); Rushing 45-199; Passing 7-14-1-120; Total yards 319; Fumbles 1 (lost 1); Penalties 2-25
Individual statistics
Rushing – (BNL) Kirby 3-17, Horton 18-71, Goodman 1-2; (CE) Villarreal 14-34, Rotert 24-116, Miller 7-49
Passing – (BNL) Kirby 14-25-4-154; (CE) Villarreal 7-14-1-120
Receiving – (BNL) Kern 1-4, Gilbert 7-81, Gates 3-33, Goodman 3-36; (CE) Thompson 2-40, Asher 2-18, Dykstra 3-62
