Despite a 38-21 loss at the hands of the Taylorsville Tartars, Columbia High School football coach James Harvey saw things he liked last Friday.
Down 20-0 at halftime, the Wildcats managed to put up 21 points in the second half despite the loss of starting running back Kentrel Bullock early in the game to an injury.
“The main thing was that the kids played hard and competed,” Harvey said. “I thought they came back out in the second half and continued to fight. We got a couple of turnovers and managed to put some points on the board.”
Though they lost on the scoreboard in the end, 38-21, Harvey said the team learned and had the chance to try some things in preparation for the opening of district play in two weeks.
“We did some stuff a little different tonight,” Harvey said. “We changed quarterbacks and moved Rafael Luter to tight end. He played really well there. He caught a touchdown pass. Moses looked comfortable at quarterback – when he wasn’t running for his life.”
For CHS (2-3) the struggle began early in the game. Taylorsville, led by freshman quarterback Ty Keyes, who was 13 of 25 for 313 yards and three touchdowns, didn’t need an offensive series to get on the scoreboard first. After going three and out on the first series, the Wildcats punted the ball away and Taylorsville’s Letreal Jones dodged and weaved 70 yards for a touchdown, giving the Tartars a 6-0 lead with 9:23 to go in the first quarter.
“We knew Taylorsville was a good team,” Harvey said. “They’re well rounded all the way around. We knew we’d have our hands full.”
On its second drive of the game, Keys completed a touchdown pass for the Tartars and the PAT kick was good to give the visitors a 13-0 with 5:13 left in the first quarter at Walter Payton Field at Gardner Stadium.
Taylorsville started the second quarter with the same momentum when Keys found Raven Arrington open for a 30-yard touchdown strike with 9:18 left in the half.
Taylorsville continued its dominance in the third quarter, beginning its scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run by Carlton (C.J.) Williams to make it 26-0 with 10:50 left.
CHS then got a little bit of excitement as well as its first score from junior running back Dylan Henry, who returned a punt 50 yards to put the Wildcats on the board. Harrison Foxworth nailed the PAT kick to make the score 26-7 with 7:28 left in the third quarter.
Seconds into the fourth quarter, Taylorsville scored again on a 50-plus yard touchdown pass from Keys to Malik Strickland, which made it 32-7 with 11:26 left in the game.
The Tartars scored again with the help of another Keys. Beron Keyes ran in from 19 yards out with 6:37 left in the game to make it 38-7.
CHS then settled in and put together several drives, orchestrated by quarterback Javon Moses, who had the helm for the first time this season, and running backs Ryan Luter and Darius Bullock.
Bullock scored on a 32-yard run with 4:29 left in the game and Moses later connected with tight end Rafael Luter, who had been the team’s quarterback for the first four games, for a touchdown. Bullock also ran in a two-point conversion in his debut as the featured running back.
Harvey reflected on the loss after speaking briefly with the team.
“You never want to lose, but in the midst of it we saw some things to build on,” he said. “We’re looking at some different stuff as we head into district. We wanted to see what worked in live competition before we were off this week. We ran Ryan Luter and the young kid, Darius Bullock, and they had some good carries. Hopefully, we’ll have Kentrel back in two weeks. He left to get checked out.”
The Wildcats have a bye this week, while Taylorsville and Perry Central, which beat Columbia two weeks ago, square off in a battle of unbeatens.
“We’ve got Wesson coming to town in two weeks – it’s homecoming,” Harvey said. “We’ve got two weeks to heal up and make some adjustments. I told the guys that I saw something tonight. They fought until the end. I’m proud of that. I saw folks that didn’t drop their heads when we got behind – they kept fighting, that’s what it’s going to take.”
Pictured Above: Dylan Henry returns a punt 50 yards for a touchdown. | Photo by Mark Rogers
