Bloomington North routs Terre Haute North Vigo 56-0

Coming off last week’s loss to Bloomington South, the Bloomington High School North football team needed to turn things around in Conference Indiana play.

The Cougars got headed in the right direction Friday against Terre Haute North Vigo. Both teams entered the matchup with 0-2 records in Conference Indiana, but Bloomington North was able to dominate in all aspects of the game to win 56-0 at home.

“We needed that, we desperately needed that,” Bloomington North head coach Brett Cooper said. “We know we had that in us, we just hadn’t shown it through the first four weeks. Now, we need to keep the train on the tracks and keep the positive momentum going.”

North dominated on offense all game. The Cougars had a combined 420 total yards. Senior quarterback John Bargen (11/13 att, 272 yds, 3 TD) threw for 272 of those yards. Bargen also added three touchdowns through the air and one on the ground over the course of the game. His favorite target was junior wide receiver Rashon English, who went for 102 yards and two touchdowns on only four receptions. Junior running back Brayden Johnson took 16 carries and ran for 82 yards plus a touchdown.

“We’re explosive, we’re dangerous,” Bargen said. “We got to get everybody to do the right thing and everybody to be on the same page. We feel like we can compete with anybody. It’s just getting all 11 to do their job and do their job to the best of their ability.”

The Cougars defense also was able to wreak havoc in the North Vigo backfield. The Patriots only had 65 total yards on offense. Senior Hunter Chitwood recorded a sack for North, and several other Cougars had tackles throughout the game. North Vigo senior quarterback Kaden McGrew had only five completions for 42 yards (5/12 att, 42 yds), and 39 of those yards were thrown to senior wide receiver Traishun Brown (4 rec, 39 yds).

Bloomington North started the game fast. On the first drive, Bargen connected with junior wide receiver Nate Walker (3 rec, 45 yds) for 29 yards to move into Patriots territory. Two plays later, Bargen found senior wide receiver Alan Hays for 16 yards, and Johnson finished the opening 8-play, 79-yard drive with a 15-yard rushing touchdown.

North Vigo had their longest drive of the night on their first possession. An 8-play, 21-yard drive ended in a punt, but the Patriots never had a possession last longer or go for more yards the rest of the contest.

On the third play of the ensuing drive, Bargen found English wide open behind the defense for a 43-yard touchdown, which gave the Cougars a 14-0 lead less than eight minutes to the game.

A 14-yard rush by junior running back Mason Valandingham (5 car, 23 yds) gave North Vigo some momentum on the next possession, but the Patriots had to punt four plays later. On Bloomington North’s ensuing drive, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moved them back, but Bargen and English connected again for 49 yards and a score in the closing seconds of the first quarter.

The second quarter went the same way as the first—North dominated all aspects of the game. After a North Vigo punt, Bargen threw to sophomore wide receiver Blake Davis for 50 yards, but Davis got tackled from behind at the 4-yard line before he could get in the end zone. Senior running back Noah Ferree (2 car, 6 yds, 2 TD) finished the drive from that distance with a rushing touchdown to give the Cougars a 28-0 lead.

Just 1:45 ticked off the game clock before Bloomington North was back into the end zone. After another Patriots punt—Senior Liam Andreas had five for the game, which all came in the first half—Bargen threw another long pass to Davis. And this time Davis was able to get all the way to the end zone for a 45-yard score.

“Everything’s so new, even for [John Bargen],” Cooper said. “We finally got some positive momentum that we needed, and that helps the quarterback play. Kids caught the ball tonight. They ran good routes, and that’s what happens.”

On the next offense drive for North, they had their longest drive of the contest. The Cougars turned to the ground game of Johnson plus sophomore running back Carter Matthew (6 car, 24 yds) and their offensive line. A defensive pass interference penalty on Terre Haute North Vigo helped gain some yards, but the running back pair moved the ball down the field before Ferree capped off the possession with a 2-yard rushing touchdown.

The teams entered halftime with North leading 42-0. That meant the second half would be played with a running clock to help speed up the game. A running clock is a kind of “mercy rule” that kicks in when a team is ahead by 35 points or more in the second half. Eliminated are most of the common clock stoppages like incomplete passes, going out of bounds, penalties, and first downs.

“We’ve played really good in spurts on offense and defense this season, and we needed to put a full game together,” Cooper said. “We were good at all three phases tonight.”

The quick pace did not help North Vigo in the second half. Three of the Patriots four drives in the last two quarters ended with a fumble. The only other drive was a turnover on downs.

It was a different story for North, as the Panthers made the most of its second-half possessions. Bargen used his legs for a 7-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter, and Matthew had a 20-yard rushing touchdown to start the fourth quarter to give the Cougars a 56-0 lead. The only drive for North in the whole game that didn’t end in a touchdown was a turnover on downs, on their final drive. It came after junior backup quarterback Tristan Stogdill led an offense filled with reserves onto the field.

After picking up their first Conference Indiana win, Bloomington North (2-3, 1-2 CI) will turn its attention to Jeffersonville on Sept. 26. The last two in-conference matchups for the Cougars will be Oct. 10 against Columbus North and Oct. 17 at Southport to close the regular season.

“We’re just trying to take this one game at a time,” Bargen said. “The biggest thing is just a steady increase as we move towards the playoffs. Whether that’s winning the conference or whether that’s just being out best for Week 10. Whatever that’s got to be.”