It took until the fourth quarter for Columbia to pull away, but the Wildcats got the job done in the first round of the playoffs at Velma Jackson with a 32-14 victory.
Head coach Chip Bilderback said the Falcons were a really good team with a ton of athleticism, and it was easy to see why they only had one loss going into the matchup.
“We knew it was going to be a tough battle and we’d have to face some adversity the whole game, and I thought our kids really responded the right way,” he said. “It was a really fun game.”
With the victory, the Wildcats (8-2) advanced to the second round where they will play host to Hazlehurst (6-3). Although the Indians are the undefeated district champs of Region 7-3A, their district is perhaps the weakest of the eight districts in the state. The Indians also won three of their games by three points or less and got credit for a win by way of forfeit.
However, Bilderback and the Wildcats aren’t taking them lightly. He said Hazlehurst is a lot like a lot of the teams the Wildcats have played this year and is really athletic and aggressive on defense.
“They want to run the ball so it’s going to be what you expect a typical 3A playoff battle. It’s going to be two teams that are physical and trying to win the game by stopping the run and running the ball,” he said.
It will be just the third home game for Columbia this year with two of its home games being canceled this season, and Bilderback said being at home should be a boost for the Wildcats.
Omar Johnson got the scoring started for Columbia Friday night against Velma Jackson with a 9-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, taking the Wildcats into halftime with an 8-0 lead. With 3:17 remaining in the third quarter, Columbia added to its lead with a defensive touchdown. Cornerback Dashod Ball stayed home on a post-wheel combination route concept — the slot receiver ran a wheel route toward the sideline while the outside receiver ran a post with the hope of Ball following him — but the senior stayed home, intercepted the pass on the wheel and returned it 30 yards to pay dirt to make it 14-0.
With a Columbia fumble gifting the Falcons a short field, Velma Jackson was able to cut the deficit to 14-6 early in the fourth quarter. But then the Wildcats ground game took over. Josh Brown captured the corner on a read option for a 7-yard touchdown then following a Velma Jackson punt, Jonathan “J-Prince” Wiltz delivered perhaps the best run of his prep career. He appeared to be stopped at the line by several Falcons defenders but slipped out of their grasp then made three men miss on a spin move to get into the end zone for a 26-yard score that made it 28-6 with 7:06 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Down three touchdowns Velma Jackson was forced to throw to try to come back, but Ball jumped a curl route and returned it 28 yards for his second pick-six of the game. The Falcons later added a garbage-time touchdown to bring the final tally to 34-12.
While the Wildcats didn’t get many sacks defensively, Bilderback said the pressure and hits they were able to get on Velma Jackson’s quarterback got him out of rhythm.
“I think (the hits) we got on him eventually allowed us to get those interceptions and also led to him throwing a lot of errant passes,” he said. “Our pressure up front really helped.”
Quarterback Carter Smith got knocked out of the game in the first quarter with a concussion, prompting Brown to step in as the signal caller. Bilderback said Brown played exceptionally well to keep the Columbia offense on track and that Johnson and Wiltz ran really well. He added he’s not sure if Smith will be able to play Friday or not.
