It came down to the final moments, but Columbia Academy couldn’t keep Sylva Bay Academy out of the end zone with the game on the line to fall 20-16 Friday night in Bay Springs.
It was the Cougars’ final non-district game of the season, and head coach Randy Butler said it was a tough pill to swallow.
“We had some opportunities in the first half that we didn’t take advantage of because we had some penalties and some turnovers. It goes back to what I’ve been saying for about six weeks — we’re inconsistent. It’s penalties; it’s turnovers; it’s missed tackles,” he said. “Again, it’s very frustrating, especially the penalties. We had four personal foul penalties in the first half that took us out of scoring drives. It’s really disappointing.”
One of the focuses in practice for Columbia Academy leading up to the game was establishing the running game, and the Cougars were able to do just that, though, running for 229 yards. Butler said it was good to see it come along, and the Cougars will try to carry it over into this week.
Columbia Academy (2-6) will head back on the road to Waynesboro to open district against Wayne Academy (4-4, 0-1), with a Cougars’ victory guaranteeing a playoff berth.
Butler said Wayne is very similar to Sylva Bay and not very complicated, with the dive as the staple of the offense despite running it out of multiple formations. The Jaguars will use spread and run the read option, line up in I-formation to run up the gut and even use a unique, three-back I-formation that they throw to the single receiver out of. But it all starts with the playmaking ability of dual-threat quarterback Colton Coxwell, as well as the dive.
“They’re physical, well-coached and disciplined. We’re going to have to stop the dive. Their quarterback is really a playmaker; he’s as fast a kid as we’ve seen all year. He really can run and is a left-handed thrower,” Butler said. ”Offensively, they’re very good up front. Their defensive front is probably one of the best we’ll see all year. We have to keep trying to run the football and take our shots when the opportunities come in the throwing game.”
Sylva Bay jumped on the Cougars to start the game Friday night, scoring on its first two drives to take a 14-0 lead. CA was able to close the gap to 14-8, though, to open the second quarter when Drew Havard scampered for a 40-yard touchdown, and quarterback Ras Pace ran in the 2-point conversion.
After the Cougars defense forced a turnover on downs, the CA offense marched down the field and into the red zone with a chance to take the lead going into halftime. With a minute to go, however, Sylva Bay’s River Thomas intercepted Pace at the Sylva Bay 2 to neutralize the threat.
Butler said had the Cougars scored right there, it could have changed the entire complexion of the game.
“We had a chance to score right before half and get some momentum, and we were going to get the ball to start the second half. You never know. It would’ve been a great mental boost and motivator,” he said. “Turnovers are a killer.”
Both defenses ruled the third quarter, but the Cougars offense came up with a key drive that ate eight minutes off the clock. Pace capped the drive with a 13-yard touchdown strike to Holden Smith, and the Cougars converted the 2-point try to capture its first lead of the game, 16-14, with two minutes remaining.
The Cougars gifted the Saints with great field position with a kick out of bounds, though, which paved the way for the game-winning drive.With less than a minute to go, Sylva Bay punched it in from three yards out to steal the game.
Butler said he liked the fight the Cougars showed in coming back, but they didn’t make enough plays to seal the deal.
“I was proud of them after time with the way they battled back to give us a chance to win. We went down and scored right before the end of the game, but we couldn’t stop them on that last drive. We let the quarterback out of the pocket a couple times, and that was it,” he said.
The Cougars inverted their normal offensive gameplan, running the ball 43 times to just 16 passes.
On the defensive side, Jordyn Mahaffey continued his breakout season with 10 tackles, two tackles for loss, two hurries and a sack.
Pictured Above: Columbia Academy's Drew Havard breaks into the open field against West Marion Sept. 21. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
