We are seven weeks into the regular season for high school football, and with district action heating up the picture for the four area teams has begun to crystalize.
Columbia High School
What we’ve learned about the Wildcats so far has to begin with the culture change brought on by first-year head coach Chip Bilderback and his retooled coaching staff.
There was a different feel around the program during the summer, and the kids were having fun playing football again. But the confidence level of the players has also risen drastically with each of Columbia’s five wins, and a confident athlete is a better athlete.
Another change has been the coaching staff’s accurate assessments of the athletes they have. We’ve known Columbia has had great athletes the past few years, but it never could quite figure out how to get the most out of them. The Wildcats coaches have done a great job evaluating their own players and putting them in the right spots to have success.
Take De’Torres Lewis for example. Lewis didn’t have one offensive touch as a junior, but through six games he’s averaging more than 10 yards per touch and has six total touchdowns. The coaches recognized how explosive he could be in the open field, and they’ve done a great job of getting him the ball in situations where he ends up with just one man to beat.
Make no mistake about it; the Wildcats are a contender this season. The program is much improved this year and could very well challenge the likes of Jeff Davis County and West Marion for the Class 3A Region 8 title.
Columbia Academy
Will the real CA please stand up? We’re going to have a problem here. Yes, that is a dated reference to Eminem, but it’s a valid question. Are the Cougars the team that upset Parklane Academy and beat PCS for the first time in more than a decade or are they the team that got blown out by Purvis and Adams County Christian?
I really don’t know. It seems like week to week the execution level rises or sinks, and it’s hard to get a read on what the Cougars’ ceiling is.
What I think the answer is is it really depends on what type of game Columbia Academy finds itself in. In previous years under head coach Randy Butler, the Cougars were at their best spreading teams out and creating mismatches. But the two games they won were grind-it-out type games where their physicality brought home the W. The Cougars may not have as much size as in recent years, but they’ve been at their best when they were able to set the tone physically in the trenches.
In reality the Cougars may just need to beat Bowling Green Oct. 18 to reach the playoffs, but they need to figure out a way to play to their strengths if they want to make a run in the postseason.
East Marion
The Eagles’ worst enemy is often themselves. East Marion has talent up and down the lineup on both sides of the ball with Devin Daniels, Wanya Cook, Flenard McLin, Jacob Johnson and Lawrence Lambert at the forefront.
The problem has been costly penalties and untimely turnovers, and last week’s loss to Lumberton was the perfect example. In the first half alone, the Eagles had two touchdowns called back due to penalties, threw an interception in the end zone and had a backbreaking pick-six go the other way.
Talent is not the issue. It comes down to execution and discipline. If the Eagles can stop beating themselves, there’s no reason they can’t make a run in the postseason.
West Marion
The Trojans got off to a great start with a perfect 6-0 record in non-district play. Then they laid an egg on homecoming against Seminary, losing 33-6.
West Marion made its fair share of mistakes in that game, but credit the Bulldogs for exposing the Trojans’ biggest flaw: size. Seminary was able to control the game in the trenches with a distinct size advantage, and the Trojans will need to find a way around it with the heavyweights of Region 8-3A lurking on the schedule.
West Marion may have the best batch of skill position players in the South region of 3A, with Jeremiah Holmes, Noland Miller Jr., DonTavious McGowan, Jartavious Martin, Adryane James and others. And head coach Brad Duncan does a great job scheming ways to get the ball in their hands, and they all make just as big of an impact on the defensive side.
It will take a masterful coaching job by Duncan and his staff to find a solution to taking down bigger teams, but if there is any coaching staff that has figured it out time and time again it’s the Trojans’.
Reach Sports Editor Joshua Campbell at joshuacampbell@columbianprogress.com.
