Only one week remains before the start of the MHSAA playoffs, and the Columbia Wildcats remain poised to make a strong run towards defending their 4A state title. In order to do so, they'll have to put last week's 20-18 loss to Poplarville behind them and move forward as a team, starting on Thursday when they travel to Lawrence County to take on the region rival Cougars.
The loss to Poplarville was tough to swallow for the Wildcats (7-2, 3-1), who felt they had dominated for most of the contest. As a result, their path back to South State became a little bit tougher, as they'll no longer have a home-field advantage throughout postseason play. But head coach Chip Bilderback still believes the sky is the limit for his team entering the last week of the season, and he doesn't believe anyone has seen what they're fully capable of just yet.
"Even with the loss, I thought our team performed really well for most of the night," Bilderback said. "We played a really strong football team that was averaging 40 points a game and only giving up 6 points per game, and we broke both of those trends. It's a tough loss to take because it makes our road a little tougher, but winning Thursday night against Lawrence County would allow us to host our first playoff game, which is where every team is striving for. So we aren't going to sit around feeling sorry for ourselves because we know Lawrence County certainly won't feel any remorse."
The Cougars (7-2, 2-2) got off to a hot start this fall with six straight wins to open the season before dropping back-to-back district contests against Poplarville (47-18) and Sumrall (28-12). They bounced back last week, however, with a 34-14 win over Purvis to put themselves back in the mix for a second-place finish in the district standings. That makes Thursday night's season finale just as important for them as it will be to the Wildcats, who Bilderback says are already chomping at the bit for the chance to get back on the field and add another check to the win column.
"We would love to be at home for the first round of playoffs because I think we'll have a really tough opponent, and we always have a great crowd here for big games," he said. "I think Lawrence County might be the most athletic team in our district. They've got guys who are big and physical, and they run the football extremely well. In our eyes, this is a playoff game for us. It's a short week since we'll be playing on a Thursday, so we started preparing on Sunday, and hopefully we can put our best game on the field Thursday night.
Bilderback added that, while many teams would be discouraged coming off a loss in an important matchup, the opposite is true for the Wildcats, who still feel like their best days are ahead of them as a football team.
"The deal is that time is of the essence. We've got to make that jump within the next couple weeks. I think that's what excites me the most as a coach. I think a lot of people understood that we were young after graduating 22 seniors last year, and you've seen the growth our younger players have made over the course of this season. We've got a great group of seniors who have set the example and shown them the way, but we also have a lot of young guys who are growing and making more plays every single week.
"I do think our best football is ahead of us, and I don't know if that can be said for the other four teams that are in the hunt. So I'm excited to see what this team can accomplish from here on out."
Kickoff for Thursday night's contest is scheduled for 7 p.m.
