Columbia Academy knew going into Thursday night’s regular season finale at Bowling Green that a win would not only clinch the district but also the No. 5 seed in the playoffs and a first-round game at home.
The Cougars (5-5, 2-0) answered that challenge early and often, scoring 38 first half points and cruising to a 46-12 win over the Buccaneers.
“That was probably our biggest motivational tool this week was winning the district. (Columbia Academy) hasn’t won a district since ’95. That was a huge motivational factor for us,” CA head coach Randy Butler said. “Then, you go back to last year and how excited everybody was around the school when we hosted in the first round and had a great victory against Simpson. People were excited, especially CA alumni. They were awfully proud of that. I’m happy that we can do it back-to-back.”
With the No. 5 seed, the Cougars get matched up with a familiar opponent in district foe Wayne Academy. The Cougars blew out Wayne just two weeks ago on homecoming night, scoring at will and putting up 54 first-half points in a 60-14 win.
While that may seem to bode well, Butler doesn’t believe it’s an advantage.
“When they came in here two weeks ago, they ran some stuff offensively they hadn’t shown, so I’m sure they’ll have some stuff up their sleeve. You’re always concerned as a coach. What happened two weeks ago doesn’t matter. It’s not going to help us win. It’s not going to help them lose. We just have to prepare and try to get ready to play as good as we can play.”
To start Thursday night’s game, the Cougars defense forced a punt that led to Drew Havard finding pay dirt from a yard out just four minutes into the game. But Bowling Green answered right back with a 45-yard touchdown run by Larry Dillion to make it 6-6.
Then the Cougars began to dominate. Ras Pace connected with Aaron Thomas for a
5-yard touchdown before running in the two-point conversion himself to put the Cougars in front 14-6. After a Bowling Green punt, Havard scored again from five yards out.
Less than a minute later, Thomas returned another Bowling Green punt 65 yards to the house to make it 30-6. Butler said it was an encouraging development to see the Cougars produce in the kicking game.
“We work awfully hard in the special times area because I’m a firm believer that it’s as big a part of the game as offense or defense, especially on the high school level,” he said. “If you have a good kicking game, you’re going to have a chance to win every Friday night.”
The Buccaneers put together a long drive that took up much of the second quarter but were again forced to punt and pinned the Cougars at their own 2-yard line.
The poor field position didn’t matter to the Cougars offense. It only took a couple of plays for a 98-yard touchdown drive that was capped off by Pace connecting with Riles Stuart for a 50-yard touchdown. Pace ran in another two-point conversion to give the Cougars a commanding 38-6 lead into halftime.
Coming out of the break, Havard scored again with a 6-yard touchdown run and Pace added to the lead with another two-point conversion, leading Butler to take his foot off the gas.
The Buccaneers would add a late touchdown on a Larry Dillion 35-yard scamper, but with the large margin and a running clock that was all she wrote.
Butler challenged his team to start fast for the second straight week and got the response he was looking for.
“We take the opening kick and the offense goes right down like almost every game this year, just methodical, and scored. We kickoff, get a stop, then the offense goes back down and scores. Then, we let them break one. They’ve got a good running back — he didn’t play the whole game, only played sparingly — but he had two really big runs against us. We contained him, though, for the most part,” he said. “It was another fast start, and that’s what I challenged them to do. When a team is 1-8 and you jump on them early, they have a tendency to fold. They kept battling, but you could see by the middle of the second quarter they were really getting frustrated.”
Another fast start this Friday night to begin the playoffs against Wayne will likely go a long way if the 60-14 matchup two weeks ago is any indication.
If the Cougars do beat Wayne in the first round, they will be matched up with the winner between Riverfield Academy (9-1, No. 4 seed) and Silliman Institute (4-6, No. 13 seed). The Cougars beat Silliman 35-28 on the road to open the season but don’t have any common opponents to compare with Riverfield.
Kickoff for Friday night’s first-round matchup is at 7 p.m.
Pictured Above: Riles Stuart rips off a 50-plus yard touchdown against Wayne Academy two weeks ago. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
