Friday night in Franklinton, La., the regular season finale between Columbia Academy and Bowling Green was never in doubt as the Cougars blew out the Buccaneers 42-0 to cement their spot in the playoffs.
Although the Cougars (3-8, 2-1) went into the game as the No. 11 team in Class 4A in the power-point rankings and won big, they actually slipped to No. 12 — the last seed of the 4A bracket — and will face Tri-County Academy (9-1) in the first round of the playoffs this week.
In taking on the winless Buccaneers, CA head coach TC Chambliss said the primary objectives were the Cougars focusing on themselves to improve in areas that were an emphasis and cut back on mistakes. A tertiary objective was ending CA’s 48-game streak of not winning back-to-back games, which the Cougars did in style.
“That’s something good teams do — they put two games back-to-back, figure out how to beat the teams they’re supposed to and they don’t let their intensity, or lack thereof, waver based on who they’re playing. They play good football regardless of who lines up across from them, and that’s the message we’ve been trying to drive home to the boys,” Chambliss said. “It seems like it’s starting to click, and that’s a big sign of a change in the culture around here, which is really what we’re after. You can start to tell our identity in who we are offensively and defensively — it’s starting to shine through in our play week after week.”
Columbia Academy needed just three plays to find pay dirt as Preston Sauls followed perfect blocking for a 22-yard touchdown. Dakota Breeland, Eli Beard, Kris Ginn and Holton Hartzog all threw second-level blocks to spring Sauls for the score. Quarterback Cole Fortenberry punctuated the perfect start by punching in the 2-point conversion to make it 8-0.
After Ginn forced a Bowling Green punt with a third-down sack, Carter Rowell had a long punt return to set the Cougars up at the Bowling Green 19. On fourth-and-10, Fortenberry scrambled to his left and threw a jump ball up to Ginn in the end zone. Despite being in double coverage, Ginn came down with it for a 20-yard touchdown.
The Buccaneers tried to cut into CA’s 14-0 lead and reached the red zone, but on fourth down, Ginn, Riley Bond and Sam Mitchell teamed up for a sack to force a turnover on downs. With a long run by Ginn and chunk pass plays to Sauls and Eli Beard, the Cougars quickly found themselves in the red zone again. They turned to Holton Hartzog in the Wildcats, and Hartzog weaved his way through the defense for a 7-yard score. Beard made it 22-0 with the 2-point conversion.
To open the second quarter, CA added to its sizable lead with Sauls taking it to the house from 37 yards out on a speed option. The play before, Fortenberry kept it on a speed option and perfectly executed the play concept on Sauls’ touchdown to put the Cougars up 28-0.
The blowout got even more out of hand on Bowling Green’s ensuing drive. Beard undercut an out route and returned the interception 44 yards for six. Tight end Caston Brown made it 36-0 when he caught the 2-point conversion from Fortenberry.
Then just a few plays later, Bowling Green fumbled the handoff exchange on a read option, allowing Ginn to fall on the loose ball. Carter Rowell then got in on the scoring parade, carrying it six straight times for 39 yards and a touchdown. On fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line, Rowell was stood up at the 1, but the CA offensive line pushed the pile into the end zone to make it 42-0 just before the end of the first half.
With a running clock in the second half, the game ended in a hurry as neither team scored again.
Chambliss said from a big picture standpoint, he’s happy with the improvement the Cougars have made this season with three wins, and being a few plays away from a five-win regular season with the close losses to Silliman Institute and East Rankin Academy. The Cougars had to withstand several key injuries, namely to Fortenberry, Sauls, Noah Branch and Caleb King.
“Seeing how far they are from the beginning of the season to now and the adversity these guys have overcome, they didn’t break, even when they had moments of weakness,” he said. “They responded how I hoped they would; they responded how we taught them to. That’s so promising for the future. It’s an exciting time to be here at CA. With all of the injuries and things we’ve gone up against, I don’t think I could’ve asked for it to go much better, all things considered.”
The Cougars will take on Tri-County Academy Friday night in Flora at 7.
