TUPELO — Columbus High School junior quarterback Trace Lee likes to spread the ball around to as many receivers as possible.
However, senior wide receiver Dalon Moore has an advantage on most plays.
“Have you seen how big he is?” Lee asked. “He is huge. Then when he sticks his arms out for the ball, he is even bigger, so he is easy to find. Then there is also the fact he always makes the catch.”
The Lee-Moore connection was on full display Friday night as the Falcons generated enough offense to ease past Tupelo 14-0 in the Class 6A, Region 1 opener for each team on Homecoming night at Tupelo Stadium.
“We are making some progress on offense,” said Brown, who is listed at 6-foot-2 and 218 pounds, before ever stretching out those big paws. “Playing with Trace is great. He is a great leader, captain, and field general. I tell him every game I am going to ride him to glory. If I get open, he is going to find me.”
Lee was 11 of 22 for 200 yards. Moore had six catches six for 77 yards. A week ago, four of Lee’s five completions went to Moore in a win against Louisville.
“They are becoming quite the pair,” Columbus coach Tony Stanford said. “Trace is such a great leader in the huddle. He knows where the ball needs to get. Dalon’s play speaks for itself. He has emerged as a big-time receiver for us.”
The Falcons (4-1, 1-0 region) set the tone on the opening kickoff. Thanks to a 50-yard kickoff return from Jimmy Cockrell, Columbus started at the Tupelo 45-yard line. Lee led his squad on a 44-yard march. Only one pass was thrown on the drive, which ended on downs at the Tupelo 1-yard line.
“We really had a great first possession,” Lee said. “At the same time, when you get to the 1-yard line, you just have to score. I think there is something we will work on in practice. The offense is still a work in progress. The first drive gave us some momentum and set us up for the second drive, where we did score.”
On that second possession, Columbus moved 64 yards on five plays. Lee found Keith Brooks on a 40-yard pass play. Three plays later, Lee found Moore in the corner of the end zone for an acrobatic 18-yard touchdown catch. The ball was batted in the air but came back down right where the Falcons needed it most.
Preston Taylor’s first of two successful PAT kicks made it 7-0 in the final minute of the opening quarter.
“We just made so many mistakes on offense,” Stanford said. “The little things really got to us. For the last three weeks, we have not played as well as we need to play. You see the flashes and you know what we can do. We just have to play smarter and eliminate those mistakes.”
The lead was enough for Columbus’ dominating defense. The Golden Wave had only three first-half possessions and four first downs. At one time late in the third quarter, the Falcons had run 24 plays more than the hosts.
“Our goal was to dominate,” Columbus senior linebacker Quan Latham said. “We wanted to keep up their receivers and rush the quarterback, hoping he would make mistakes. We were successful stopping them in the flats and that was important.
“Anytime, you play, you want a shutout. We really didn’t want them to get the past 50. But we made some mistakes and they capitalized on them. We held them out when we needed to, so it feels good to get the shutout.”
Tupelo (2-3, 0-1) appeared poised to answer Columbus’ touchdown on its next possession. The Golden Wave moved inside the Columbus 10 before Jalen Stewart recovered a mishandled snap for the Falcons.
Columbus missed another scoring opportunity late in the second quarter on a 25-yard field goal miss by Taylor. Tupelo suffered the same fate in the third quarter when kicker Drew White failed to connect on a 45-yard try.
The teams then appeared destined for a 7-0 final before a punt block by Kasey Grice sparked the Golden Wave. Tupelo took that gift just shy of midfield and marched to the Columbus 12 before being turned away on downs with 4 minutes 4 seconds left in regulation. Rashad Meeks had a pass deflection and Cockrell had a tackle for loss on the possession.
Latham stuffed the Golden Wave’s final threat with an interception.
With a short field set up by a 50-yard return by Latham, the Falcons moved 29 yards with Brooks barreling in from 2 yards for the clinching score.
“To come on the road and win a region game is very big for this team,” Moore said. “We came in here as the underdogs but we left with a win. We came here tonight to prove to all of 6A we are ready to play this year.”
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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