Bloomington High School South defeated crosstown rivals Bloomington High School North after a thrilling fourth quarter comeback Friday — marking its second straight comeback victory.
The Panthers barely survived their first-round playoff matchup last weekend, needing a late touchdown to take down Terre Haute South Vigo High School 41-34 on Halloween night.
The Cougars, by contrast, cruised to a 49-0 victory against Terre Haute North Vigo High School the same night. Despite Bloomington South owning the better record and winning the regular season matchup 36-7 Sept. 12, Bloomington North came into Friday’s game hot off a six-game winning streak.
Early warning sirens started to blare for Bloomington South, with Bloomington North’s senior safety Luke Freel returning an interception for a touchdown and the only score of the first quarter. Two minutes into the second quarter, a touchdown pass from senior quarterback John Bargen doubled the Cougars’ lead.
Despite senior tight end Jalen Williams hauling in Bloomington South’s first score of the day to halve the deficit, sophomore receiver Blake Davis quickly responded with a 55-yard touchdown catch to restore the Cougars’ 14-point lead.
With the score reading 21-7 at halftime, Bloomington South stared down the barrel of a sectional championship loss to its rival on its own home field. For the second straight week, the Panthers would need to rally in the second half.
A second passing touchdown for junior quarterback Duncan Combs cut Bloomington South’s deficit back down to seven. Entering the fourth quarter, however, a third passing touchdown for Bargen gave the Cougars a 28-14 lead.
Down 14 points in the fourth quarter, Bloomington South’s season was on the line. With just over seven minutes remaining, Combs found Williams in the corner of the end zone to make it a one-possession game. After the defense tackled the punter on North’s 30-yard line, momentum had firmly swung in the Panthers’ direction.
Senior running back Braylen Townsend plunged home from the 1-yard line, tying the game with just over three minutes remaining. A second straight stop for Bloomington South’s defense put the Panthers in striking distance.
Bloomington South completed the fourth quarter comeback, kicking an 18-yard field goal to score 17 straight points and emerge victorious 31-28.
Bloomington North was the better team for the first three quarters. However, two straight stalled drives in the final quarter allowed Bloomington South the opportunity to steal the win late on.
Despite Bloomington South totaling 402 yards on offense compared to 249 for Bloomington North, the Panthers took their first and only lead of the game as time expired. Bargen was able to keep the Panthers at arm's length for three quarters, but the lack of running success made it hard to earn first downs late.
“They just made plays in critical moments that we weren’t able to make,” Bloomington North head coach Brett Cooper said. “We came out with a good gameplan and, you know, we executed really well for the first three quarters of the game and we just couldn’t close the door on them.”
Bloomington North’s Conference Indiana journey has officially come to an end. With a performance that Cooper can be proud of, the Cougars can look to their future in the Mid-State Conference starting in the 2026-27 season.
Next season will be new for the team, but more of the same for Cooper. Having previously coached at Perry Meridian High School, Cooper has experience coaching against the teams of the Mid-State Conference.
“I’m extremely proud of our kids,” Cooper said. “I’m so happy for those kids that they bought into our program in a weird transitional time in their high school career.”
Bloomington South, however, moves on to the regional championship round, taking on Floyd Central High School at 7 p.m. Nov. 14.
