For the first time in nearly a decade — since Oct. 30, 2009 vs. Crystal Springs to be exact — the Columbia Wildcats defense pitched a shutout in a 35-0 defeat of head coach Chip Bilderback’s former team, Perry Central.
Bilderback attributed the Wildcats holding Perry Central scoreless to a simplified scheme and the play of the front seven.
“We really kind of went back to our fundamentals and technique. We eliminated some calls this week to enable our kids to come off the ball and play fast. The defensive front played really, really well,” he said. “Jeremiah Haynes did a great job up front, and we had a bunch of guys — Landon Sanders, Jordan Aaron, Anthony Fortenberry, Jaheim Oatis — all those guys stepped up and played well Friday night. Off the edge KJ Cloyd had 10 tackles. I was really happy for our defense because they worked really hard. We got to see how good we can be on defense.”
Columbia played well throughout the first half defensively but struggled to finish drives to get points on the board. Running back Kentrel Bullock finally broke through for Columbia in the second quarter with a 36-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead with Harrison Foxworth’s PAT. Outside linebacker KJ Cloyd nearly broke the game open for the Wildcats on the next drive by making reservations for 6 on an interception, but an inadvertent whistle on a late false start penalty rendered the play dead.
Despite scoring just seven first-half points, Columbia broke the game wide open with a 35-yard touchdown run by Bullock and a 99-yard interception return by De’Torres Lewis to put the home team up 21-0 early in the second half.
“Our first drive of the second half, Kentrel Bullock scored a touchdown, and I really thought it was important for us to have a good drive to start the half and we did that. Then after that when we scored again on De’Torres’ long interception, and that was kind of it then,” Bilderback said. “I felt in the first half there were so many times early we had a chance to break the game open, and things just didn’t play out offensively and defensively. We had a pick-six that was called back for inadvertent whistle that would’ve been big. Early in the first part of the game we were waiting for a big play to be made. But in the second half our guys came out and said ‘Hey, we’re going to take it to them,’ and they did.”
Freshman Omarie Johnson, who had a game-high 191 rushing yards, padded the lead with 79-yard touchdown in the third quarter and a 37-yard score to begin the fourth. Bilderback said he believed the Wildcats would be able to have success offensively heading into the game, and it was just a matter of time before Johnson and Bullock broke free.
“We have two explosive backs and a quarterback (Ralpheal Luter) who can run it as well, too. We have some great weapons, and we felt like all week we could really get after their defensive line. We felt good about that matchup, and we just honed in,” he said. “Both of our backs also block extremely well for each other. They’ve taken a very unselfish approach. So when we have two backs in there and one is blocking his butt off for the other, and you have your offensive line blocking their butts off good things are going to happen. If we can continue with that, I feel good about where we’re heading.”
Pictured Above: CHS running back Omarie Johnson zooms through the Perry Central defense Friday night in a 35-0 victory. | Photo by Charlie Smith
