For the past three weeks, Columbia has been playing in games with seemingly everything at stake, and for the first time Friday night the Wildcats couldn’t get the job done.
The Wildcats (8-2, 4-1) surrendered 21 fourth-quarter points and were unable to mount a comeback in the game’s final minutes to fall 21-14 at Seminary (8-3, 5-0). Both teams entered the matchup undefeated in Region 8-3A, setting up the de facto district championship bout.
“Our guys hurt right now because they expected to win,” head coach Chip Bilderback said following the loss. “We came here to win the game. We were good enough to win the game. At the end of the night, we just didn’t make enough plays.”
While the regular season may have come to a close without a district title, the Wildcats have to turn their attention to Morton (3-8) for a first-round matchup Friday night at home.
“We’ve got to regroup. We host a home game next week and really don’t have a lot of time to sit here and lick our wounds. We have to come back and have a great week of preparation,” Bilderback said. “We haven’t hosted in a long time, so there’s a lot to be positive about.”
Columbia struck first against Seminary after four punts to start the game. Omarie Johnson scampered for 32 yards to put the Wildcats in the red zone, and Ralpheal Luter picked up great perimeter blocking from Johnson and Sadarion Magee to capture the corner on a quarterback sweep for a 10-yard touchdown. Harrison Foxworth drilled the extra point to put Columbia up 7-0 seconds into the second quarter.
Seminary picked up its first three first downs of the game on its final drive of the first half, but the Wildcats defense rose to the occasion in the red zone. On 4th-and-goal from the 10, Seminary quarterback Jeff Miller lofted a fade to the back corner of the end zone to 6-foot-4 Nathan Pickering, but Dylan Henry was in great position for the Wildcats to keep the Mississippi State commit from getting his hands on the ball.
Both defenses remained sturdy throughout the third quarter, and up until the 3-minute mark of the quarter Seminary had only picked up five first downs and gained less than 100 yards. However, the Bulldogs finally found a play that worked for their offense — buck sweep — and began to gash the Columbia defense.
Seminary tied it up with 10:42 remaining in the fourth quarter on a 6-yard run by Jordan Barrett and got a huge stop on Columbia’s ensuing drive. The Wildcats had marched down to the Seminary 27 thanks to a 20-yard completion to Jamison Kelly that was turned into a 35-yard gain with a facemask tacked onto the end of the play. But Columbia turned it over on downs as Luter’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
Bulldogs lead back Marquis Crosby then made sure all of the momentum was in Seminary’s favor, bursting around the corner and reversing field for a 56-yard gain on the first play of the drive. Seminary then picked up a first down on a crucial 4th-and-1 at the Columbia 4 before Crosby capped off the drive with a 1-yard plunge into the end zone on the next play to put Seminary up 14-7 with five minutes to go in the game.
But the Wildcats didn’t just roll over and die. Instead they threw a haymaker right back at the Bulldogs. On the first play from scrimmage after the touchdown, Luter tossed a screen to De’Torres Lewis on the outside who made the corner miss and raced for a 56-yard touchdown down the sideline. Once Lewis saw daylight, his electric speed did the rest to knot the game at 14-14.
However, Seminary’s offense was finally operating in full gear and continued to gash Columbia’s usually stout front seven on buck sweeps, where the running back takes an inside handoff then follows two pulling guards off tackle. Crosby gave the Bulldogs the lead for good with 1:48 left on a 5-yard touchdown.
“They found a play that was working, and we had trouble getting lined up. It was great coaching on their part to keep attacking with what was working for them,” Bilderback explained. “We’ve been a second-half team and right there in the fourth quarter was the first time we’ve lost a fourth quarter all year, probably at the worst time. When you’re playing for a district championship, you’re going against a really good football team. It is what it is.”
The Wildcats had a shot to tie it up and had the perfect play dialed up, but the execution wasn’t there. Luter threw it to Lewis on the outside behind the line of scrimmage, and Lewis attempted a double pass deep down the field. Johnson was well behind the coverage and likely would’ve scored if he caught the ball in stride, but it was slightly underthrown and off target and fell incomplete. Luter was then sacked on fourth down to end the game.
Not only was it the first game this season the Columbia passing offense outgained the rushing attack, but it was also the first time the Wildcats were held under 100 yards rushing as they gained 96 yards on 25 carries. Columbia was without star running back Kentrel Bullock, who averages 143 yards per game and has 16 total touchdowns in seven games, due to a knee injury, and the offense missed his tough running inside, particularly in 3rd-and-short situations to keep drives alive.
“More or less we just got tired for the first time in a while. I think if we could’ve got a couple of first downs on offense and kept the defense off the field a little longer, especially early in the game, we would’ve been a little fresher,” Bilderback said. “You’re always fighting for momentum, and I think they got a little momentum going on and that happens.”
Pictured Above: Columbia quarterback Ralpheal Luter breaks off a 10-yard touchdown run. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
