The Columbia Wildcats announced themselves as contenders in Region 8-3A with a 44-0 beat down of Wesson Friday night on the road.
In a week that saw West Marion fall from the ranks of the unbeaten and Jefferson Davis County squeak by Tylertown, the Wildcats showed they have a chance to claim the district for the first time in a long time as they improved to 5-1 and 1-0 in district.
“It was good for us to get that win. We had a week off, and the last time we played we lost a heartbreaker on the road at Taylorsville,” head coach Chip Bilderback said. “Over the last two weeks, our kids had really great preparation and focused on getting better themselves. To go on the road and pretty much dominate the way we did, I was pretty encouraged. I was just glad for our kids to be back out there having fun playing football.”
Next up for the Wildcats is Tylertown (3-4, 0-1), which has played several quality programs and could pose challenges for Columbia. Bilderback said he likes where the Wildcats are at as a team at this point in the season but have to be ready for a battle against the Chiefs.
“Tylertown is the most athletic team we’ve faced. They’ve got speed everywhere. They’ve played a couple of 6A’s and a couple 5A’s, so they’re a really football program whose record is deceiving,” he said. “We have to come in and be ready for a dog fight. I think it’s going to be a game that’s going to be a heavyweight fight that’s going to take four quarters to pull this one off. I’m glad we’ve got them at home.”
Kentrel Bullock got the ball rolling for Columbia on the opening drive at Wesson Friday, gashing the Cobras defense for a 59-yard touchdown run. Then it was Omarie Johnson’s turn on the Wildcats’ second possession. The freshman raced 63 yards for a touchdown to give the Wildcats an early 16-0 lead with two 2-point conversions. Bullock added on to the first quarter lead with a touchdown run from three yards out, and Kevin Garcia made it 23-0 with the PAT.
The Cobras offense was threatening to open the second quarter until De’Torres Lewis stepped in front of a pass and returned an interception 108 yards for a touchdown to break the game wide open. Bilderback said the Wildcats defense built on its solid play all season.
“They’ve been running to the ball really well, and I thought they adjusted well. Wesson came out and tried to do something we haven’t seen, but our defense made the adjustment,” he said. “Our kids are playing hard and playing physical on the defensive side. We came up with another big interception by De’Torres Lewis and scored a touchdown off of it.”
Bullock would add his third touchdown of the first half on a 12-yard carry later in the second quarter, and Garcia’s third PAT gave the Wildcats a 37-0 lead going into the locker rooms.
Columbia opened the second half with a bang as Lewis hauled in a 63-yard touchdown reception from Ralpheal Luter to further the lead to 44-0. The Wildcats have rarely tried to make plays in the passing game this season, but Bilderback said that has been the result of circumstance.
“We’ve felt like we’ve been able to throw the ball but just haven’t had to do it. We really wanted to work on it. We saw a mismatch and took advantage of it,” he said. “I thought as a whole the offense played really well. We ran the ball well; we blocked well interiorly and on the perimeter. I thought we played really well on special teams, too, and it was a very complete win.”
Columbia racked up 384 yards of offense compared to just 110 for Wesson, with 286 coming from the rushing attack.
Pictured Above: The Columbia defense celebrates a key stop against Taylorsville Sept. 14. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
