For all intents and purposes, the Region 7-4A title all comes down to this: Two 7-1 squads that are both unbeaten in district play will square off Friday night in an epic rematch of last year’s South State Championship. The Columbia Wildcats, who beat Poplarville on the road 27-3 during the regular season and at home 12-7 with a trip to the state championship on the line, will play host to the Hornets on senior night at Walter Payton Field.
Columbia has one more district game against Lawrence County following the matchup with Poplarville, and there is an outside chance of a three-way tie forming between Columbia, Poplarville and Sumrall, but the most likely scenario is the winner of Friday night’s showdown at Gardner Stadium will be the district champion.
For years, Poplarville wore out defenses with its patented Wing T offense, which gave everyone but the Wildcats trouble. But the Hornets have adopted a new offense in 2022 and have gone back further in time to the Notre Dame Box offense that former Columbia head coach Joey Porter utilized during his time with the Wildcats. Bilderback said Poplarville still utilizes some of its Wing T elements, but it is a new look that can be even more difficult to read at times.
“They’re big up front on both sides of the ball, and they’re very efficient,” Columbia head coach Chip Bilderback said. “Not many people have been able to slow them down. They’re averaging right at 40 points per game and are only giving up seven.
“It’s going to be a tough task for us to keep up with them — I know a lot of people have struggled doing that — but that’s why we decided to play such a tough non-district schedule to get us ready and go through the challenges that have helped us grow. We’re going to have to be the more physical team and really have to have relentless effort on both sides of the ball.”
The box offense has single-wing elements and uses a short shotgun with a running back, fullback and wingback all in the backfield. Oftentimes, Poplarville uses a tight end on both sides with no wide receivers, and sometimes they will flex a receiver out wide with only one tight end.
“They will do a direct snap to the blocking back. There’s a lot of misdirection in there. It’s going to be really important for our linebackers to read their keys,” Bilderback said.
Defensively, the Hornets have gotten after teams, racking up 34 tackles for loss, 15 takeaways and 13 sacks. With their opportunistic style, the Wildcats will have to keep their mistakes to a minimum and stay out of third-and-long situations.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
“I hope our fans come out to really give us some extra support. It’s at home, so that can be a real advantage if we can use it,” Bilderback said.
