East Olympians Blog

Columbus East’s first real test of the season looked like more of the same, although the Trojans certainly kept fighting to the end. Ultimately though, the Trojans were settling for field goals while the O’s were scoring touchdowns, and that’s no way to knock off the No. 1 team in 4A.
Coach Bob Gaddis talked about how the O’s wanted to show they were just as physical as East Central, and they did, running the ball a lot, even if few of their runs resulted in big plays. Of course, the physicality of this game took its toll on East, with several players forced to limp out of the game.
Fortunately for East, they’ll have an extra day to get healthy for their next opponent. East will play at Jasper next Saturday (the 15th). We’ll run East-approved directions to Jasper this week in The Republic, and as soon as we find out what time the game will be, we’ll let you know that too. We’ll also be monitoring the East girls basketball situation, since they’re scheduled to open the regular season at home against Rushville on the 15th as well.
And a quick look ahead at semistate, although I’m sure the East coaches and players aren’t thinking that far ahead. Regardless, East (should they defeat Jasper) has two possible opponents in the semistate: Cathedral or Zionsville. If it’s East vs. Cathedral, that game will be here at John Stafford Field; if it’s East vs. Zionsville, that game will be played at Zionsville. That’s assuming I’m looking at the IHSAA Web site correctly.

Another quick-and-dirty blog update here, since I’ve got an early morning on Saturday.

I didn’t see the regular season East-Madison game, so I don’t know what the differences were in play-calling and game situations between that one and Friday’s sectional game. But it seemed clear from the start that the O’s had no intention of trying to repeat the 75-point performance they laid on the Cubs four weeks ago.

Besides, with all due respect to Madison, it was pretty clear that East was going to win this one. Too much depth, too much talent, too much experience. So why risk some of these guys who are banged up when a 42-6 win is just as good as a 63-6 victory?

The good thing is that East got to see what some of their other running backs and defensive players can do. That depth is going to come in handy as the tournament continues.

Of course, the next step is getting past East Central. The Trojans are a tough opponent, with a 10-1 record following their win over Shelbyville in the other sectional semifinal.

And East Central will be looking for a measure of revenge against the O’s: East has ended East Central’s season two straight years and three times in four seasons.