Eager to bounce back strong from last week's loss to Jeff. Davis County, the Columbia Wildcats (4-1) are going right back to work in preparation for Friday night's district opener on the road against the Sumrall Bobcats (4-1).
For Columbia, this week is all about getting back on track and playing their own brand of football. Head coach Chip Bilderback said he didn't think the Wildcats did a sound job of establishing their own game plan in last week's 41-22 loss to JDC, but he believes the loss could ultimately work in their favor if they take the necessary steps to learn from their mistakes and move forward as a more complete team.
"We break the season down into segments, really. Your non-district schedule is kind of like your preseason, and now we're moving into the district portion of our schedule, which are the games that really matter because they determine whether or not you reach the playoffs," Bilderback said. "I think our non-district schedule really tested us both physically and mentally. We played a lot of really tough teams, and ultimately you want to see a little bit of adversity early on in the season because it challenges you and gives you opportunities to grow as a team. We took a tough loss last week, but the real test will be seeing how we can respond to that when we get back on the field next week."
For Sumrall, the contest will be about sustaining the momentum they've carried into the matchup with a three-game winning streak working in their favor. The Bobcats are fresh off a 28-19 victory over Newton County, and their defense hasn't allowed 20 or more points to an opposing offense since the first week of September. Bilderback said the Bobcats' size and physicality up front will present yet another challenge for his team to overcome when they retake the field on Friday night.
"They're really big along the offensive line, and my concern is just them trying to lean in on us and run the football," he said. "They also have one of the better defenses that we've seen all year. They're a very sound group, and they can create some points of conflict because they run a three-man front, so they're going to make it difficult for us to consistently run the football, but we're looking forward to the challenge. In our eyes, everyone is 0-0 heading into district play, and we want to have a strong start to district play and put ourselves in position to get back to where we want to be at the end of the regular season."
Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m.
