BLOOMINGTON — The frustration was boiling over as the Bloomington North's football team gathered after the game.

That's because it had probably been on simmer since the second series of the game.

Early mistakes put the Cougars in a hole which once again tested their resilience. They passed that part. But this time, the opponent, Class 5A No. 8 Plainfield, was just too much to overcome. The Quakers dominated the second half to pull away for a chippy 35-14 win at Dennis O' Martin Field on Friday, Sept. 18.

More: Bloomington area IHSAA football week 5 scores, updates

It was a game with Mid-State Conference title hopes in the balance and Plainfield (4-1, 3-0) ran off with it, outgaining the Cougars (3-2, 2-1) 225-85 in the second half. But three empty possessions to start the game set up North's demise.

"Obviously, we committed some mistakes early on, and you can't do that against a team like that," North coach Andy Harding said. "We had some drives that stalled that we could have went down and scored on. We jump offsides or do this or do that and it leads to missed field goals rather than points.

"You can't play from behind against a team like that. So we've got to get better. Back to 0-0 tomorrow."

Red zone blues for North

The Quakers had a statement to make early, beyond nearly causing a pre-game scrap. Plainfield got a long kickoff return and scored in just four plays. North's defense buckled down, providing three opportunities to answer and each time, the Cougars sputtered inside the Quakers' 40.

Brayden Johnson ripped off a 31-yard run on North's first snap. But first and 10 at the Plainfield 24 netted no yards and a missed 41-yard field goal.

North got the ball back and converted a fourth-and-3 with a 13-yard gain by Johnson. A facemask call moved the ball to the 14. But a false start, two incompletions and a stuffed run forced a 37-yard field goal try that went left.

Drive No. 3 started at the Plainfield 31 after a nice punt return by Blake Davis. But after lining up offsides and missing on two passes, the Cougars punted from the 36. Potentially, 21 points just circled down the drain.

"We had some plays, whether it was a key drop, missed throw, missed tackle, we were right there," Harding said. "Blitz right into something. But we're going to get better."

More: 3-sport senior standout quite the catch for Bloomington South football

North finally finished a drive as Carter Matthew hauled in a four-yard TD pass from Fisher Pugh with 9.9 seconds left to get within 14-7.

Second-half takeover by Plainfield

Like the week before, surely the plan was to come out and score on the opening drive of the second half, get a stop and battle from there. But North went three and. Plainfield's size then began to lean on the Cougars a bit, rushing for 115 yards in the second half, most of it by Justin Meyer (18-121, 2 TDs) while throwing for 110 as QB Bryce Sebanc finished 16-of-20.

"I don't necessarily think it was their size," Harding said. "It was just early on, throwing some shoulders into tackles rather than actually executing. Great play calling by them sometimes. But I think our offense could have helped our defense out a little bit if we go score down there.

"That picks up your defense up immediately when you know your turnover on downs led to points for us. Instead, we're kicking field goals and doing this ... Those things add up really quick."

The Cougars tried adding some new wrinkles to the passing game, but it never really clicked for the freshman Pugh, who finished just 9-of-23 for 87 yards with a late interception. North did run the ball well as Johnson romped for 143 yards and a nifty six-yard TD that was the Cougars' last gasp, making it a 21-14 game with 2:11 left in the third.

Touchdown Cougars! What a move by Brayden Johnson to score from the 6 at 2:11 of the third. He's at 153 yards. But Plainfield still leads 21-14. pic.twitter.com/mDnMzEl0IK

— Jim Gordillo (@JimGordillo) September 19, 2026

But North had just three first downs in the second half while Plainfield answered with an 80-yard scoring drive, got a stop at midfield on fourth down and turned that into a TD as well with 3:47 to go.

Still, Harding saw a squad much more competitive with a top-10 team that what they showed in the opener vs. Bloomington South.

"We were right there in this game," Harding said. "If we can come out in the second half and score and tie this ballgame, it was going to be a whole new ballgame."

PLAINFIELD 35, BLOOMINGTON NORTH 14

Plainfield (4-1, 3-0) 7 | 7 | 7 | 14 — 35

Bloomington North (3-2, 2-1) 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 — 14

FIRST QUARTER

P: Justin Meyer 3 run (Liam McAdams kick), 9:41. P, 7-0.

SECOND QUARTER

P: Coen Vanderbush 16 pass from Bryce Sebanc (McAdams kick), 2:56. P, 14-0.

BN: Carter Matthew 4 pass from Fisher Pugh (Andres Firacative kick), 9.9. P, 14-7.

THIRD QUARTER

P: Meyer 3 run (McAdams kick), 4:12. P, 21-7.

BN: Brayden Johnson 6 run (Firacative kick), 2:11. P, 21-14.

FOURTH QUARTER

P: Ethan Ellis 1 run (McAdams kick), 11:03. P, 28-14.

P: Zander Nattam 34 pass from Sebanc (McAdams kick), 3:47. P, 35-14.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Plainfield (31-186): Justin Meyer 18-121, Bryce Sebanc 9-31, Ethan Ellis 4-34.

Bloomington North (29-164): Brayden Johnson 16-143, Carter Matthew 10-33, Fisher Pugh 3-(-12).

PASSING

Plainfield: Sebanc 16-20-0-201.

Bloomington North: Pugh 9-23-1-87.

RECEIVING

Plainfield: Zander Nattam 7-96, Coen Vanderbush 5-74, Meyer 1-11, Austin Ward 1-8, Devin D'Amato 1-8, Ellis 1-4.

Bloomington North: Nate Walker 4-33, Blake Davis 1-28, Rashon English 1-8, Johnson 1-5, Matthew 1-4.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Early miscues sink Bloomington North football against No. 8 Plainfield