Sectional Final: East 28, East Central 12
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.
