Lawrence County is not your typical Mississippi high school football team that did not make the playoffs. That proved to be the case Oct. 27 as the Columbia Wildcats struggled to tame the 7-3 Cougars early on before pulling away for a 41-20 road win to close out the regular season 8-2.
Columbia fell in a 12-0 hole almost immediately and had to scratch and claw its way back, ultimately scoring six unrequited touchdowns to come away with the victory. And while 41 unanswered points sounds like the Wildcats completely dominated for a long stretch of the game, Lawrence County could have easily scored four touchdowns themselves during that span if it were not for Columbia’s superb red zone defense.
“They’re probably the most athletic team we faced on our schedule, and that’s with us playing a really tough schedule,” Columbia head coach Chip Bilderback said. “They have who we consider to be one of the best players in the state in Ahmad Hardy, and their quarterback (Kannon Cato) is really good. For us to hold them to what we did, I was really proud of our defense because they have been scoring a lot of points.
“They jumped out on us 12-0 out the gate, but we went 41 points unanswered. I thought our offense played extremely well. The improvement we’re going to have to make is we had a lot of missed tackles, so that will be a point of emphasis. Some of that credit is to Lawrence County, and some of that is credit to poor technique.”
On the opening possession of the game, Lawrence County moved the ball with ease, picking up five first downs on the ground over a six-play span, and the seventh play was a 10-yard touchdown for Hardy.
Then the Cougars pooched the kickoff right in front of Miguel Cook, who tried to field the ball on a short hop but was unable to corral it, leading to Lawrence County stealing a possession by recovering the kickoff. The Cougars proceeded to convert two fourth downs, including a fourth-and-goal from inside the 1-yard line as quarterback Kannon Cato dove over the line for a touchdown to put them up 12-0.
Trailing by two scores, Amarion Fortenberry finally gave the Wildcats life as he fielded a short kickoff and beat the kick coverage by running laterally before turning upfield to pick up 45 yards and set Columbia up at the Lawrence County 25. Jalon Anderson set up a 1-yard touchdown plunge for Collin Haney with three impressive carries for 24 yards. Luke Davis just got the extra point over the crossbar to cut the deficit to 12-7 with under a minute to play in the opening quarter.
Columbia’s defense finally stepped up on the ensuing drive as Jashawn Barnes forced a punt with a third-down tackle for loss. Then Cameron Lowe burst straight through Lawrence County’s line on the punt and blocked it to set the Wildcats up at the Lawrence County 19. That led to a 1-yard touchdown for Mac McDaniel on a fullback dive, giving the Wildcats a 14-12 lead with 8:37 to play in the first half.
Following another three-and-out for Lawrence County, Anderson’s strong running set up a play-action shot to AJ Lewis, who caught a back-shoulder fade from Haney for an 18-yard touchdown and 21 unanswered points for the Wildcats.
In the blink of an eye, Lawrence County was threatening in the red zone, but a holding call turned third-and-1 into third-and-14 and allowed the Wildcats to force a turnover on downs.
The Wildcats opened the second half with a bang as Haney launched a deep ball to Lewis, who made a great play to elevate and haul in a 43-yard reception. Two plays later, Fortenberry accelerated up the middle and lowered his shoulder at the goal line for a 6-yard touchdown to make it 27-12.
Lawrence County responded with a long drive fueled by the running game and reached the red zone, but McDaniel and Isiah Foxworth teamed up for a fourth-down sack to force a turnover on downs. Cook then got redemption for misplaying the kickoff in the first quarter, bursting around the right side for a 23-yard touchdown that extended Columbia’s lead to 34-12 with 3:19 remaining in the third quarter.
“Our running backs are really clicking. That’s a big nod to our O-line and their development and getting better,” Bilderback said. “I’m definitely really proud of them. They’ve been working really hard, and I’m glad to see it all come together.”
Thanks to a pair of long runs by Cato, the Cougars reached Columbia’s 5-yard line on their next drive, but Fortenberry broke up a fourth-down pass in the end zone to force Lawrence County’s third turnover on downs in the red zone. It happened again on the Cougars’ next drive as they reached the Columbia 10 only to throw another fourth-down incompletion in the end zone.
Bilderback said forcing the four turnover on downs in the red zone is indicative of the growth Columbia’s defense has experience this season.
Anderson set up Columbia’s sixth touchdown of the night, exploding down the left sideline for a 44-yard run, which set up an 11-yard touchdown strike from Haney to Kendale Johnson on a slant. Davis’ extra point made it 41-12 with 4:32 to play in the fourth quarter.
Lawrence County managed to punch in a touchdown against Columbia’s backups, but it was too little too late as the Wildcats cemented a 41-20 victory.
The Cougars are arguably the best 4A team not to make the postseason. After starting the season 6-0, they went 1-3 in Region 7-4A, which included a hard-luck loss to Sumrall when they were without Cato and Hardy that proved to be the game that kept them out of the playoffs.
As for the Wildcats, the defending 4A champs will represent Region 7-4A as the No. 2 seed Friday night when they play host to Greene County (5-5) in the first round. With a win over Greene County, Columbia would either face Mendenhall (9-1) or Lanier (2-8) in the second round of the playoffs. Mendenhall’s lone loss this season was to Columbia, 21-16, in Week 1.
