COLUMBUS
It didn’t matter if Luke Hansen was going through, over or around the Columbus North defense Friday night, the Roncalli senior was churning out yards.
Hansen carried 25 times for 308 yards and four touchdowns and added a 44-yard TD reception to lead the Class 4A No. 2 Royals to a 38-17 road win.
Roncalli marched down the field each of the first two times it had the ball. Both drives culminated in 1-yard touchdown runs by Hansen, and the Royals led 14-0 after one quarter.
Roncalli looked as though it would go up 21-0 when Arik Moyers hit Nolan Tunny over the middle for what looked to be a 35-yard touchdown. But Tunny was hit just before he crossed the goal line, and the ball trickled out of the back of the end zone, giving it back to the Bull Dogs.
“If we make it 21-0 early, then it’s a way different ball game,” Roncalli coach Eric Quintana said. “We fumbled the ball on the 1, and the momentum kind of shifted a little bit for them.”
The Bull Dogs (2-2) then drove for their first score. Zac Horn found Cooper Horn on third and 16 from the 17.
After North stopped the Royals (4-0) on downs, it drove inside the 10, but had to settle for a 21-yard field goal from Osian Guest to cut the lead to 14-10 with 44 seconds left in the first half.
That was enough time for Roncalli to get in range for a field goal of its own. Levi Wisler, whose last-second field goal beat Bishop Chatard a week earlier, converted from 33 yards to make it 17-10 at halftime.
After holding North on its first series of the second half, the Royals gained a little breathing room. Hansen took a screen pass from Moyers, hurdled a defender and went 44 yards for his third touchdown of the night.
The Bull Dogs again drove to the Roncalli 10 but were set back by a couple of penalties, and the drive stalled.
The next time the Royals had it, Hansen went through defenders instead of over them. He broke a couple of tackles on his way to a 43-yard run that made it 31-10.
Hansen then used a downfield cutback to go 55 yards for his fifth touchdown the next time Roncalli had it.
North made the game a little closer early in the fourth quarter when a 30-yard run by Cooper Horn on a fake punt set up a Tyler Blythe 5-yard scamper for a score.
“They just got their running game going, and they committed to it,” North coach Logan Haston said. “We knew going into it that was the strength of their team — the run game — and their running back came to play and made some really good plays, and they just kind of busted the game open there in the second half.”
Moyers finished 7 of 15 passing for 114 yards and a touchdown for the Royals, who had beaten Southport, Franklin Central and Chatard the first three weeks.
“Those first three games, we have some rivalries there, and it’s good for our guys to come out this game,” Quintana said. “Not that we ever took Columbus North lightly, but it’s good for our guys to bounce back and fight. They played hard.”