Randal Montgomery sees the progress.
Whether it has been a 7-0 lead, a 14-13 advantage, or a 7-7 tie, the first-year Columbus High School football coach has seen positives in each of his team’s first three losses.
Unfortunately, Montgomery has seen too many self-inflicted mistakes negate the positives. As a result, Montgomery and the Falcons have only a series or moral victories to show for their hard work in the first month of the season.
The silver lining in Columbus High’s 0-3 start is losses to Noxubee County, New Hope, and West Point won’t affect the program’s postseason fate. That quest will begin next week when Columbus takes on Starkville in its Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A, Region 2 opener.
First, though, Columbus will try to break down its first wall of the season at 7 p.m. Friday when it plays host to reigning Class 3A state champion Louisville.
For Montgomery, the matchup will give the Falcons a chance to build on a performance against the Green Wave in which they had their chances only to see a 7-7 tie in the third quarter turn into a 35-7 defeat.
“The main thing we’re doing is trying to make the kids understand that a lot of the goals we set out to accomplish prior to the season are still attainable,” Montgomery said. “We haven’t played a district game. Our goal is to try to get in there and win as many district ballgames as possible and to get into the playoffs. That is still something we can attain.
“Do we like to be 0-3? Of course not. But, at the same time, there are some things we are doing a lot better than we did in the first ballgame. There are some things we are doing a lot better than we did in the second ballgame, so there has been a lot of improvement in certain areas.”
The trouble is keeping the focus of players who want to see a reward for all of the excitement and hard work they have invested in the program since the arrival of Montgomery, who led Hazelhurst High to three-straight Class 3A title game appearances, including one victory.
Montgomery said Columbus can make it easier on itself if it makes more plays. That sounds simple, but he said Columbus had two golden opportunities to score in the first half against West Point, only to drop a pass and have a snap from the Green Wave 1-yard line sail well over the head of quarterback Jay Jay Swanigan. Montgomery attributes the inability to make a play at a key juncture to his team’s lack of focus. He said repetition will help correct that dilemma, but he also said the Falcons need to play better attention to what they are doing so they can execute.
“From the 20-yard line to the 20-yard line, we were good. We did some great things,” Montgomery said. “That has been the way it has been all season. From the 20 to the 20, we do a fairly decent job of moving the football. When we get down there for that last 10 to 15 yards, something just goes wrong. We are trying to train the mind-set that when you get inside the 20 or the 10, you can’t put it on cruise control because you are about to score, and vice versa. Defensively, when a team gets inside the 20, you can’t be like, ‘Oh, they are about to score.’ ”
Montgomery thought Swanigan did a better job throwing the football against West Point. But he also said the Falcons’ youth and lack of experience are working against them. He said he and his coaches have stressed to the players that they can’t get too excited or tense when they are in the red zone. He said they have to stay focused and lock in and finish the drive.
If Columbus can adopt that mind-set, Montgomery feels Columbus will be able to knock down that first domino that will lead to even more — and bigger — success. He saw signs of that early when Columbus used a big touchdown run to break on top of Noxubee County 7-0. He also saw it when his team rallied from a 13-0 first-quarter deficit to take a 14-14 lead against New Hope. Now the Falcons have to learn how to sustain that mentality for four quarters.
“We’re just looking for a win,” Montgomery said. “I think a win will do so much for our kids in terms of helping them understand we can win, we can play with some people, and we can win some ballgames. That will also kind of take the edge off because right now we are playing a little tense because we are kind of pressing a little bit because we want to win so bad. I think sometimes when we do that we kind of get frustrated and we make mistakes. I think a win will be a domino effect for us because a lot of kids will say, ‘Huh, we got a win. All right, now let’s play football.’ ”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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