Columbus North High School

August 21, 2022 - First-year head coach Logan Haston’s first game as a head coach was certainly a challenging task; a road trip to Class 5A second-ranked Decatur Central. While his Dogs fought valiantly, the Hawks used a pair of late touchdowns to seal a 26-12 victory, dropping the Bull Dogs to 0-1 to start the season. Decatur Central looked dominant in the early going, grabbing a 14-0 lead over the visiting Bull Dogs, but the Dogs grabbed some momentum heading into the halftime locker room when a long screen pass from quarterback Zac Horn (shown above) to Damon Edwards put the ball inside the Hawks’ 10-yard line, setting up an Ossian Guest field goal. Horn found wide receiver Cooper Horn for a long touchdown on a fourth down early in the third quarter, cutting Decatur Central lead to 14-9. A big defensive stop for the Dogs, followed by a long run from Tyler Blythe set up another Guest field goal, and North had the lead cut to 14-12. The Bull Dogs threatened again on their next possession, but a sack-fumble by the Hawks defense gave the ball back to Decatur Central. The defense answered quickly with a fumble recovery of their own on the first play of the fourth quarter. A long pass from Z Horn to Blythe took the Bull Dogs deep into Decatur Central territory, but the drive stalled on the one-yard line thanks to a fourth-and-goal stop by the Hawks’ defense with less than six minutes to play. Four plays later the Hawks scored on an 86-yard pass play, essentially sealing the victory. Left with no timeouts deep in their own territory, Z Horn threw an interception that resulted in a meaningless touchdown by the Hawks, leaving the final score 26-12 in a game much closer than the scoreboard indicated. Blythe, who had missed much of the preseason with a broken bone in his hand, returned to lead the rushing attack with 61 yards on 15 carries. Z Horn was 20-for-31 passing for 253 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions in his debut as starting quarterback. Damon Edwards led North’s receiving attack with seven receptions for 96 yards. In Saturday’s sub-varsity games, the JV team beat Decatur Central 21-0 and the ninth grade squad fell 46-6. All three teams will be back in action next weekend to conclude Rivalry Week against Columbus East. The varsity will play at Columbus North on Friday, beginning at 7:00 (gates open at 5:00). The freshmen and JV will play a double header at Columbus East on Saturday, August 27 beginning at 10:00 am.