In the rivalry showdown dubbed the “Game of the Decade,” the contest lived up to the billing as the Columbia Wildcats came from behind to score the game-winning touchdown with five seconds left to beat the West Marion Trojans and advance to the South State Championship.
Trailing 13-12, the Wildcats (10-2) forced the Trojans (9-3) to punt with three minutes remaining, and Dashod Ball fielded the rolling kick, returned it 24 yards and got hit late by West Marion’s Ka’Marius Husband to add 15 more yards and set Columbia up at the Trojans 28 with a chance to win the game.
West Marion nearly ended it, forcing Columbia into a fourth-and-2, but Omar Johnson picked it up with a powerful 4-yard run. A few plays later, the Wildcats had a chance to win it on second-and-goal from the Trojans 8, but a high pass from Carter Smith went through Ball’s hands. But Ball made up for it on the next play, coming open late to catch an 8-yard touchdown on the sideline from a scrambling Smith with just five seconds remaining.
“That was the biggest moment, and I’m going to remember that,” Ball said after the game. “It’s hard to beat a team twice, but I’m excited to be going to South State.”
The touchdown was actually a busted play. It was designed for Smith to throw a wheel route to Johnson coming out of the backfield, but Johnson got stuck picking up a blitzer. As Smith shifted his line of sight to the other side of the field, Ball noticed his quarterback was in trouble and made a quick cut to the outside to create the separation needed to haul in the walk-off touchdown.
Wildcats head coach Chip Bilderback said the ups and downs of the game were a mirror image of what life is like, and Columbia did a great job of rising to the occasion.
“We only lost one game by one point on an extra point in overtime so this is a great football team. It came down to the end and nothing but credit to coach (Brad) Duncan. The guy is a phenomenal coach, and the program he has built is unprecedented. But our kids, all they do is fight. That’s what life is all about,” he said. “If you just keep on fighting, keep chopping wood, you’re going to end up making playing, you’re going to end up winning the game and you’re going to end up winning in life. That’s been our thing; we’re just going to keep on trying to fight. Everyone keep on sleeping on Columbia.”
Three of the game’s five touchdowns happened in the final eight minutes of regulation, leading to the epic ending. Bilderback said the flip in field position on the punt return was big, and he expects nothing less from Ball, who just keeps on fighting no matter what.
“One thing about him is he’s going to play hard every snap. That’s just kind of Dashod being Dashod,” he said. “He sees an opportunity to make a play, and he’s not going to think twice about it. He’s going to go get it. In that situation he wasn’t afraid of making a mistake. He played with an absence of fear, and it really worked out. It was the break we needed right there at that moment.”
Coach Duncan said Ball’s punt return and the late hit was the turning point in the game.
“I was satisfied to hold the clock right there to punt the ball, and we got a good punt, got a good roll, had two kids there to cover and we didn’t cover it very well. (Ball) turns his back away and decides he’s going to try it,” he said. “That gave them great field position, and it was the turning point.”
The game started as another defensive slugfest. West Marion only went backward on its opening drive, while Columbia got stuffed on fourth-and-1 at the Trojans 19 on its first drive. Midway through the second quarter, the Columbia offense finally gained some real traction.
Jonathan Wiltz bobbled a pass at least five times before reeling it in and picking up 31 yards to get the Wildcats into West Marion territory. Following a block in the back bringing back a Greg Fortenberry touchdown, Peyton Anderson had a 22-yard catch-and-run on a tight end screen to set up an Omar Johnson 6-yard touchdown run to put Columbia up 6-0 with 3:52 remaining in the second quarter.
The Trojans immediately responded, with gains of 12, 13 and 15 yards to get into the red zone. Then on third-and-10, Qavonte Swanigan came open on a well-designed play action and hauled in a 15-yard touchdown from Jayden Duncan that made it 6-6 going into halftime.
West Marion was knocking on the door again early in the third quarter after Jayden Duncan found O’Marion Husband on a deep ball for a 41-yard gain despite pass interference. However, three plays later Swanigan was intercepted by Columbia’s Devron Cloyd to end the threat. Swanigan was in as a Wildcat quarterback and tried to connect with tight end Cooper Foxworth over the middle, but Foxworth cut off his route because he and Ka’Marius Husband were in the same area, which allowed Cloyd to jump the pass. Cloyd was actually covering Ka’Marius Husband, who was supposed to run a short flat route but drifted deeper as Swanigan rolled out more.
Coach Duncan said the Trojans have practiced that play all year and were hoping it would hit for a big play.
“In hindsight, I probably put too much pressure on Q to throw the football there. It was a sprint-out pass, and what I was hoping was that he could possibly get on the edge and find green grass if the pass wasn’t there. But they had it played really well,” he said.
The Trojans quickly forced a three-and-out, though, leading to their scoring drive of the game. The drive was buoyed by another deep shot as Larry Magee corralled a 35-yard pass from Jayden Duncan. The Trojans had to convert two fourth-downs, with Jartavious “Tater Rabbit” Martin picking up three yards on fourth-and-10 from the Columbia 10 and Swanigan catching a 2-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal. The touchdown was the perfect play call as the Trojans lined up with bunch quads to the right, and Swanigan ran a crossing route back to the left for a throwback that put the Trojans up 13-6 with 7:52 in the fourth quarter.
Columbia’s passing game woke up on the ensuing drive as Smith completed passes to Ball for 15 yards, Latonio Irvin for seven and Ball again for 38. Ball ran a perfect fade route on the long completion, eating up the cushion of Magee with a great stem release and blowing by him to haul in the well-thrown pass. Three plays later Johnson knifed his way through the Trojans defense on a direct snap for an 8-yard touchdown. Down 13-12 with 5:02 remaining, the Wildcats tried to take the lead with a two-point conversion with a jump pass to 6-foot-6 big man Jaheim Oatis, but Smith’s pass was just a hair too high for Oatis to haul in.
West Marion’s chance to run out the clock and preserve the victory was immediately hindered by a Jarvis Craft holding call that backed the Trojans up into first-and-24. They were able to pick up 16 yards to make it third-and-6 but were called for a delay of game because they were out of timeouts. Then a false start penalty made it third-and-16, forcing West Marion into a low-percentage throw it wasn’t able to complete. That sequence set up Ball’s big return and Columbia’s game-winning drive.
Bilderback said they weren’t sure if they were going to have Smith, who missed the previous game with a concussion, leading up to the game, which made game-planning tough. That’s why Columbia lined up in the Wildcat for at least half of its offensive plays, but Bilderback said he knew Smith would make the plays they needed him to make if he was able to play.
Although the season didn’t end the way the Trojans wanted, Duncan said they were resilient all year with everything they faced.
“They showed up to work every day to get better, and I think we got a little bit better each day. The heart of West Marion football is amazing to me,” he said. “We don’t have the biggest, prettiest team around, but our kids are always going to compete. That’s what I’ll always be proud of.”
