The Columbia Wildcats (4-0) put up 35 points in the first quarter alone in their homecoming game Friday night and held their cross-town rivals, the East Marion Eagles (0-4), to negative-5 yards of total offense for the game in a 38-0 victory.
Wildcats head coach Chip Bilderback said they came out with the right kind of energy and got after it on both sides of the ball.
“They were just excited to be playing at home, and when you’re playing one of your rivals that’s always going to get a good effort from your team,” he said. “It was really nice to be back at home. We were on the road for three weeks, and it was really good to be playing in front of our fans.”
For first-year Eagles head coach Brad Hughes, he said they’re going to take their lumps while breaking in new starters all over the field.
“Sometimes it happens like that when you’re young and you’re playing a quality opponent in Columbia. They have things going in the right direction,” he said. “Coach Bilderback has them playing hard, and they have some talented players.”
Josh Brown got things going for Columbia on the second play from scrimmage, reversing field on a jet sweep and accelerating for a 60-yard touchdown. After an East Marion punt was partially blocked, Carter Smith added to the lead with a 14-yard touchdown on a quarterback sweep.
Brown then intercepted East Marion quarterback Leon Andrews to set up a 21-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Dashod Ball on a screen behind a great block on the perimeter by Kentrell Jackson. Following another Eagles punt, Jonathan Wiltz powered his way into the end zone from 4 yards out.
Then Greg Fortenberry got in on the action, taking his lone carry of the night 56 yards to the house to make it 35-0 with four seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Columbia started putting in its backups early in the second quarter and expanded its lead to 38-0 when Garrett Helman drilled his first career field goal, a 26-yarder midway through the second quarter. Bilderback said if Helman continues to deliver and can be relied upon for short field goals, it would help the Wildcats tremendously in close games.
“We’re excited (about Helman). In (Region) 8-3A the margin of victory is very close so being able to have that as something in your toolbox, that helps us a lot moving forward,” he said.
Columbia continued to move the ball with relative ease in the second half but was held scoreless by East Marion’s unrelenting defense. Although the Eagles could’ve hung their heads with the lopsided margin, Hughes said they took it upon themselves at halftime to stay motivated.
“They said, ‘Hey, let’s go out there this second half and work to get better. Let’s take this and let it be a learning experience.’ They weren’t down and didn’t have a quitter mentality or anything like that. They were still thinking positive even though the game was out of reach,” he said.
The Wildcats once again controlled the trenches, and Bilderback said the offensive line has improved week by week. He said the unit has worked really hard even with rotating a lot of guys in and out, and he believes it will continue to get even better in future weeks. On the other side, he said the defensive line is really starting to understand the scheme while improving technique wise.
“To be successful in 3A, you have to be great up front on both sides of the ball. I think we’re not there yet, but we’re getting closer and closer to where we want to be,” he said.
The Wildcats racked up 331 yards of offense with 283 of it coming on the ground. East Marion, meanwhile, had 26 rushes account for negative-5 yards and wasn’t able to complete any of its eight passing attempts.
Columbia begins Region 8-3A play on its home field Friday night when Tylertown (1-3) comes to town.
“They’re a typical Tylertown football team. They’re big up front on both sides of the ball and very athletic,” Bilderback said. “They’re a big-play team so we’re going to do our best to keep them in front of us and make them drive it on us. They’re very, very athletic so we have a challenge just matching their speed and athleticism.”
Bilderback added the goal is to make the game a fight in a phone booth where the Wildcats can impose their will.
“We want to make them want to try to come up and tackle us and see if they can do that consistently,” he said.
Tylertown is coming off an impressive 32-21 road win over St. Martin. For the Chiefs to go to the Coast and beat a 6A team, that says a lot about what they are capable of, according to Bilderback.
Hughes said the Eagles actually had one of their better days of practice Monday despite Friday’s disappointment. But East Marion is preparing for a new opponent on short notice.
The Eagles were supposed to be playing Perry Central to begin their district slate on Saturday because Perry Central’s coronavirus quarantine was expected to end Friday. But the coach called Hughes to tell him the quarantine got extended so Hughes scrambled and was able to get Copiah Academy (4-2) scheduled for a road game Friday.
Hughes said Copiah quarterback Ellis Fair is about 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds, and he’s used a lot in the power running game.
“We’re going to see a lot of power and counter again, and we’re going to have to tackle,” he said. “They’re a pretty good football team.”
Hughes said he’s trying to reschedule the Perry Central, but if the game can’t be rescheduled it would go down as a win for the Eagles via forfeit.
