INDIANAPOLIS

Franklin boys soccer coach Tony Harris had a plan to slow down Class 3A No. 4 Columbus North in Saturday night’s sectional final at Roncalli.

While the plan worked for the majority of the first half, the Bull Dogs were eventually able to take over and post a 3-1 victory.

“They’re just so darn good in the middle of the field, and we knew that was going to be an issue,” Harris said. “When they got going, they’re tough to deal with. We knew that, but we thought maybe we could do some things to slow them down, and I thought we did early in the first half.”

The Grizzly Cubs struck first. J.D. Sever scored on a header in the 12th minute to give them a 1-0 lead.

“I thought we came out with some toughness,” Harris said. “We battled. We matched their energy, which we knew they were going to come out with a lot of energy. I thought we did what we wanted to do there early on.”

North tied the game in the 28th minute when Nico Gotoh headed in a corner kick. Gotoh added a second goal in the 47th minute after he beat a Franklin defender to a through ball and had a one-on-one with keeper Adam Ott.

The Grizzly Cubs looked like they had tied the game in the 65th minute, but the apparent goal was nullified by an offsides call. Three minutes later, the Bull Dogs’ Aidan Whitley scored to give North a two-goal lead.

“As the first half went on, they kind of got going,” Harris said. “We gave up one, but we were right there, and I thought, ‘Well, we’re going to have it in the second half,’ and they just won a lot more balls than us in the second half, and unfortunately we just couldn’t get going.

“We had one goal called back, and that would have helped, and we missed a couple chances, but that happens,” he added. “That’s a heck of a soccer team, and I’m proud of our guys for fighting. I’m just proud of all my guys.”

The Bull Dogs outshot Franklin 14-11, putting 10 shots on goal to five for the Grizzly Cubs. Ott finished with seven saves.

North (16-1-1) moves on to play at Center Grove in Wednesday’s regional semifinal.

Franklin, still in search of its first sectional title, finished the season 13-2-3.

“This is one of our two probably best seasons in the past 10 years,” Harris said. “It’s a great group of seniors, great group of kids. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”