The Columbus and Northwest Rankin high school football teams reached the crossroads together in Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A, Region 2 play Friday night.
After dropping two region games to start the season, each team knew a victory was critical for legitimate playoff hopes to remain alive.
While both teams showed signs of being winless in the region, Northwest Rankin played through the desperation slightly better, easing to a 20-7 victory at Falcon Field.
“We had been waiting for a couple of weeks for something good to happen,” Northwest Rankin senior running back/strong safety Ricky Price said. “When you are in our position, it seems like everybody is good. We came out here focused. We didn’t take any plays off. We kept working. When things went bad, we didn’t give up. I can’t say that about some other games.”
Northwest Rankin (3-5, 1-2 region) is putting the pieces together under new coach Tyler Peterson said. It shook up the Jackson-area prep landscape earlier this season with a stunning victory against Pearl. In region play, Northwest Rankin dropped a 21-13 decision to Warren Central before falling flat in a 42-0 loss to top-ranked Starkville a week ago.
A year ago, Northwest Rankin managed only 58 yards offense but still beat Columbus 13-6. The Cougars ran the ball, worked the clock, and played strong defense to protect an early lead. The victory helped send Northwest Rankin to the playoffs and denied Columbus a postseason berth.
On this night, Northwest Rankin again role a stellar defense. The Cougars battled back from a 7-0 first-quarter deficit by scoring the final 20 points. Northwest Rankin forced six turnovers, including a takeaway on each of the final five possessions in the game for Columbus (1-6, 0-3 region).
“It is my responsibility to get this football team ready to play, and it is rather obvious we are not getting that done,” Columbus first-year coach Randal Montgomery said. “We have to go back to work Monday. We have to do a better job of preparing. We have to do a better job of coaching.”
Columbus took its opening possession 70 yards on nine plays. The Falcons took their first lead in region play when Jay Jay Swanigan crashed in from 5 yards for the touchdown.
Northwest Rankin then showed its desperation on the next possession. Facing a fourth-and-4 from its 26-yard line, punter Spencer Cole ran 4 yards on a fake punt. A questionable spot gave the Cougars a first down. While Northwest Rankin didn’t score, it denied Columbus a chance to build an early two-touchdown lead.
“The game had a lot of big plays for us,” Peterson said. “We were looking for that spark, to get something going. I am not sure the sanity of the play, but I do know it got us out of a hole and got us into more equal footing in the game.”
Northwest Rankin only managed four first downs last season and rode the thinnest margin of error to the finish line. On this night, the Cougars again caught the good fortune.
Gerald Wilson had a critical field goal block late in the first half to preserve a 10-7 halftime lead. Northwest Rankin quarterback Braden Smith completed a fourth-down pass attempt off his back foot for a 30-yard touchdown to start his team’s scoring.
Columbus had the six turnovers, including five lost fumbles. Three were on the basic quarterback-running back handoff. The Falcons had two lengthy runs into the red zone (one by Kendre Conner and another by Kylin Hill) brought back by holding penalties.
Columbus finished with 21 first downs and 256 yards of offense. However, those numbers were offset by the minus-three deficit in the turnover department.
“The season is not over,” Montgomery said. “The main thing is we have to keep getting better. We made some of the same mistakes tonight we made in the first game. We got to find a way to get out here Monday and go back to work. We can still make something out of this season.”
Northwest Rankin extended its 10-7 halftime lead on an 11-yard run by Braden Smith and Cole’s second field goal. Columbus saw its best scoring chance go awry in the early stages of the third quarter.
Down 10-7, the Falcons moved the second-half kickoff 62 yards to the Northwest Rankin 18. Hill was then stuffed for a 1-yard loss by Tony Adams.
“The defense really came to play tonight,” Price said. “We knew Columbus was a good team, so we had to get some turnovers. We did a great job of keeping them shut down and making some big plays when we had to.”
Columbus turned to sophomore quarterback C.J. Gholar in the second half. While Gholar made some good plays, he was also part of stretch of five-straight lost possessions. As the season unwinds, the Falcons will look for more playing time for younger players.
“We really felt this was a good time to get C.J. out there and get him some good live reps,” Montgomery said. “We know he is our future. He did some things well and will keep learning. This was a good chance for him to go out there and try to make some plays.”
On this night, the majority of plays were made by the visitors from Brandon.
“Even though it is only one region win, it’s really huge for our team,” Price said. “We leave here with a whole lot of confidence. We haven’t felt that way in a while.”
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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