Speed kills time and time again, and the Columbia Academy Cougars learned that lesson the hard way Friday night when Presbyterian Christian visited Marion County. The team speed of PCS overwhelmed the Cougars in every facet of the game, leading to the Bobcats beating CA 35-6.
The Cougars trailed 35-0 at halftime, and head coach TC Chambliss said he was not pleased with the first-half performance.
“I didn’t feel like we fought the way we practiced, and I didn’t feel like we fought the way we prepared,” he said.
Chambliss challenged his squad at halftime, and while the game was already out of reach, he liked the way the Cougars responded.
“I just wanted to go out there in the second half and make sure we left it all out there on the field, and I thought we did that,” he said. “I kind of feel like they were star struck at first, and that’s not the type of program we’re building here. I don’t care if we’re playing the Green Bay Packers. They put their pants on one leg at a time just like we do. We need to get to the point to where our opponent doesn’t matter, we take care of ourselves and our fundamentals and we play our kind of football.”
Playing without their starting quarterback (Cole Fortenberry) and top running back (Preston Sauls), the Cougars (1-3) couldn’t get anything going on the opening drive of the game and their punt traveled just eight yards, setting PCS up at the CA 43-yard line. Three plays later, the Bobcats were in the end zone as Kray Johnson ran it in from three yards out to make it 7-0 less than three minutes into the game.
Following two more CA punts, PCS easily drove down the field again, and Ian Randolph put the Bobcats up 14-0 on a quarterback sneak. On the Bobcats’ next possession, following CA’s third three-and-out, they used a little bit of trickery to set up a touchdown. The CA defense had seemingly forced a three-and-out, but a fake punt by PCS picked up 31 yards and set up a Damien McNair 8-yard touchdown run that made it 21-0 early in the second quarter.
The Cougars were able to pick up a pair of first downs on their ensuing drive but turned it over on downs just inside PCS territory. The Bobcats wasted no time adding to their big lead as Zion Booth walked in from a yard out. But Sam Mitchell blocked the extra point for the Cougars, keeping the deficit at 27-0 with 2:31 remaining in the first half.
The Bobcats would add one more touchdown before the end of the half, a McNair 11-yard run, and convert the two-point conversion to make it 35-0 going into the locker rooms. With Presbyterian Christian’s defensive speed keeping the Cougars from being able to make it to the edge at all, CA gained just 15 yards in the first half.
To open the second half, Eli Beard gave the CA offense the spark it had been searching for all game with an impressive 14-yard run on third-and-5. Then two plays later, Ginn faced pressure up the middle and escaped to the outside to get away. On the edge, Ginn used a stutter step and a head fake to make three men miss, allowing him to race down the sideline for a 43-yard touchdown.
On the ensuing possession, the Bobcats, who had their junior varsity squad in at this point, were knocking on the door of the end zone once again. But Landon McNabb managed to punch the ball out at the 1-yard line and Carter Rowell recovered it in the end zone for a touchback. The game ended shortly thereafter, though, with a running clock in place for the second half.
CA’s running game has taken a huge hit with the loss of Sauls and having to move Ginn, who rushed for 282 yards in the season opener as a fullback, to quarterback. Outside of Ginn Friday, the Cougars carried it 14 times for just 30 yards. Chambliss said the issues with the running game have been twofold.
First, the offensive line hasn’t been reaching the second level and hasn’t been playing until the whistle blows. The second part of it has been the lack of experience for CA’s ball carriers. Jacob Reid, Eli Beard, Caleb King and Carter Rowell have each shown flashes, but they haven’t had enough reps yet to learn when the hole isn’t there to put their foot in the ground, lower their shoulder and accept picking up just a yard or two. Too often they are trying to bounce it outside and getting brought down for a loss, forcing the Cougars into passing situations with their backup quarterback.
“They’re going through a learning experience, and now we’ve lost Caleb King too, so we’re getting fairly deep into the depth chart. Every game, every carry is a learning experience, and we just need to get a lot more reps,” Chambliss said. “They’re well versed at being receivers, but being running backs is new to them. We’ve made some tweaks offensively, and they’re getting the hang of it.”
Following Friday’s game against Pillow Academy, the Cougars have back-to-back district games against Oak Forest Academy and Brookhaven Academy. Chambliss said the goal is to get the kinks ironed out before that time comes, and the hope is Sauls will be ready to go when district play begins.
