High School Football

It got cold by the fourth quarter last night, so after Columbus East sent in the Junior Varsity after wrapping up their Sectional Championship with a 36-0 score against Franklin County, I trekked back to the parking lot and drove to the Circle K for a cup of hot chocolate before heading home. (The JV backups gave up 2 touchdowns to Franklin County to make the final score 36-14).

East and North both played in Sectional Championship games last night, and both outcomes were in line with expectations.  North was blown out by Center Grove, which was just as much expected as East's easy victory.

East happens to be ranked #1 in their division (4A).  But we know from past years that the ranking doesn't mean much in the state tournament.  They could get surprised next week by Evansville Reitz.  But looming in the bracket is the perennial powerhouse from Indianapolis, Cathedral High School.

Cathedral may have a pedestrian 7-5 record, but nobody, least of all East, will interpret that as the Catholic school being ripe for defeat.  Cathedral wins the State Championship in 4A more often than not, and although I'm sure the Olympians may hope they fall to 11-1 Mount Vernon in the Regional, that might be a faint hope.

Columbus East was challenged this year only by their crosstown rival North early in the season. They closed out a very close match with the northsiders late in the fourth quarter to pull out the victory on their way to a so-far undefeated season. 

Next week's Regional opponent from Indiana's toe is a bit of an unknown, since they had no opposing teams in common with the Olympians.  I think Evansville Reitz is also unbeaten so far this year, so the only way to predict the outcome of next Friday's game is by looking at past history.  I can't analyze the historical record thoroughly, but do know that North and East have both had pretty good success against the teams from Indiana's toe, in football and other sports.  That means little in an individual season or game, though.

So if East can overcome the boys from Evansville, it seems highly likely they'll have to face Cathedral as their final obstacle to the state final in Lucas Oil Stadium.  In Columbus, we can only hope the Olympians can repeat this year's breakthrough year by the North High School boy's soccer team, who finally earned for the 2012 state championship after knocking on the door but falling short in semistate for the last decade, then losing the state championship game on penalty kicks last year.

It's been so long since the Olympians were challenged this season, we can be a little concerned that they're not prepared for a worthy opponent that might force them to be at their best to win.  If they can rise to the occasion over the next 2 games, it will be great to see them playing Thanksgiving weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium.  I'd try to go see the game, except there is probably a family gathering that will take precedence.

Sports is my entertainment.  Life would be terribly dull without the chance to follow teams from local high school to the professionals.