With how dominant the Columbia Wildcats have been all season long, it seemed like it would take a perfect storm for them to be tamed and fail to win the Class 3A state championship. And that’s exactly what occurred Friday night in Columbia’s 27-7 loss to Jeff Davis County.
There’s a saying often used in sports — the game was closer than the final score indicated — and Columbia’s loss to Jeff Davis fits it to a T. There was one key sequence in the game that stands out above the rest, and I’ll get to that, but Columbia’s inability to establish its rushing attack was the biggest issue in my eyes.
Going into the game, the trio of Kentrel Bullock, Omarie Johnson and Josh Brown had rushed for 3,452 yards (266 yards per game) and 52 touchdowns on 9.2 yards per carry. When Columbia beat the Jaguars 36-22 Oct. 11, Bullock and Johnson combined for 372 yards and five touchdowns together and were able to carve up Jeff Davis at will.
But Friday night JDC limited the trio to 52 yards on 25 carries (2.1 yards per carry) and kept them out of the end zone. The most evident example was in Bullock, who had just 21 yards on 13 carries. He actually had one attempt go for 25 yards, while his other 12 combined for minus-4 yards. Five of his runs were for a loss, combining for minus-25 yards.
The Jaguars did a good job of stacking the box and staying in their gaps, but Bullock also helped them out a few times by trying to bounce runs to the outside rather than lowering his shoulder and picking up dirty yards. Bullock is blessed with 4.38 speed and specializes in hitting the home run, and he was able to do it several times in the first game. But this game felt different from the jump. It called for grinding out yards the old-fashioned way.
Bullock has the power to meet a linebacker in the hole and still pick up three to four yards, and he did it a few times. But the lost-yardage plays put the Wildcats in some long down-and-distance situations where they had to resort to the passing game. Credit also has to be given to the Jeff Davis defense, too, though. The Jaguars did a great job of shedding blocks, especially at the second level, and forcing Bullock and Johnson to try to create on their own. Columbia’s offensive line usually excels at second-level blocking, but it got beat time and time again.
On the flip side, the Jaguars were able to use their patented Wing-T offense to rip off huge chunks of yardage and keep the chains moving. The two play concepts that really hurt Columbia were outside sweeps and cross-fire runs. There were several sweeps where Jeff Davis’ Kyser Booth and Deandre Shorts were able to get around the corner untouched and run free into the secondary. Columbia struggled to set the edge and force plays back inside where all the help is.
The cross-fire runs are as difficult to defend as any play in football. All the backfield motion goes one way indicating a sweep, but the handoff goes back the other way. The one surefire way to stop it is to get penetration inside with defensive tackles and keep the running back from getting back to the line of scrimmage. Once he’s through the line, it usually goes for a big gain because the linebackers and safeties are flowing the opposite way because all of their keys told them it’s a sweep. The Jaguars offensive line was tremendous in keeping Jaheim Oatis and Jeremiah Haynes from blowing the play up.
Lastly, we’ll get to the sequence that changed the entire game. Early in the fourth quarter after Bullock lost 10 yards and Javen Moses just missed Brown on a would-be touchdown on a deep ball, the Wildcats were facing a 3rd-and-20 down 14-7. Moses lofted a 50-50 ball to Jamison Kelly, who went up and corralled the pass that should’ve been a 21-yard completion to set up 1st-and-goal at the Jeff Davis 7. But Kelly was flagged for offensive pass interference, Columbia had to punt and the punt was blocked, leading to a Jaguars touchdown.
That sequence turned out to be a 14-point swing that would end Columbia’s perfect season. The play happened right in front of me on the sideline, and I watched it happen through my camera lens. In real time, I didn’t see anything that justified a flag. The ref told Columbia head coach Chip Bilderback on the sideline that Kelly pushed the cornerback while they were both in the air, causing the defender to start falling. From my vantage point, that never occurred. I do have a frame that I shot prior to them jumping where Kelly’s forearm is on the defender’s back, but that was about seven yards away from where they both ended up jumping. I think the catch should’ve stood, and the contact was incidental with two guys fighting for the ball.
Had that play stood and the Wildcats scored it would’ve been 14-14, and the blocked punt never would’ve happened. With a tied game and the momentum on Columbia’s side, the outcome could’ve been vastly different.
Pictured Above: Columbia’s Jamison Kelly makes a contested catch in the fourth quarter Friday night against Jeff Davis. The 21-yard reception would have given the Wildcats 1st-and-goal, but it was called back for offensive pass interference. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
