OLIVE BRANCH — It’s down to a one-game season for the Columbus High School football team.
Columbus fell into fourth place in Class 6A, Region 1 after a 43-14 loss to Olive Branch at Pool Field.
With the victory, the Conquistadors clinched the region title and improved to 10-0 and 6-0 in region. With its eighth straight loss in this series, Columbus fell to 6-4 and 3-3.
Entering the final week of the regular season, Columbus and Southaven are tied for the fourth and final playoff spot in the region. Tupelo is in third at 4-2. Southaven owns the tiebreaker against Columbus.
“We have to come out and get the win next Friday night,” Columbus coach Tony Stanford said. “Then after that, we will see if we get in. All we can control right now is winning next Friday night. Our whole focus is on finishing 7-4. It has been a long time since a Columbus football team had a chance to win seven games.”
Columbus must defeat Grenada at home next Friday to have a chance at the postseason. Columbus would lose a two-team tiebreaker with Southaven. A potential three-team tiebreaker with Tupelo, Columbus, and Southaven would come down to point differential, with two of those three teams advancing. Tupelo will play host to Olive Branch, while Southaven will play host to Horn Lake next week.
Against Olive Branch, Columbus couldn’t contain the high-octane passing attack of quarterback Todd Mays and wide receiver D’Arthur Cowan. In the opening half, Mays was 17 of 21 for 333 yards and five touchdowns. Cowan, a University of Arkansas commitment, had eight catches for 208 yards and two touchdowns.
Olive Branch scored on all six possessions in the first half and led 40-0 at halftime.
“Coach told us to keep fighting and to keep our heads up,” Columbus quarterback Cedrick Jackson said. “When it comes down the playoffs, every point matters. Our job as an offense was to keep fighting and to try to put up points.”
Columbus did just that with three strong offensive drives in the final half. The Falcons scored on a 56-yard pass play from Jackson to Deontae Jones. Columbus scored on its next possession when Trace Lee hit Jackson for a quarterback-to-quarterback 57-yard pass pickup as a prelude to an 11-yard scoring strike.
Columbus also moved into the red zone in the game’s final half minute only to have its third interception end that threat.
“I am really proud of the team for continuing to fight,” Stanford said. “We have preached finishing all year. Even though we didn’t win the game, I am proud that we continued to fight and continued to make plays. You want to take some type of confidence into next Friday night since that game will define our season.”
The game might have swung on the first two possessions. The Conquistadors moved their first possession 60 yards on 10 plays. Olive Branch had an apparent passing touchdown brought back by a holding penalty. Olive Branch then picked up 16 yards on third-and-26 and 15 yards on fourth-and-10 to keep the drive alive.
Mays hit Cowan on a 6-yard touchdown pass.
Columbus tried to answer. The Falcons picked up a pair of first downs. A pass pickup from Jackson to Jones moved the ball to the Ocean Springs 43-yard line. From there, the Falcons were penalized three straight plays — intentional grounding, holding, and false start.
The Falcons had to punt the ball on fourth-and-44.
With a short field generated by a short Columbus punt, Olive Branch only needed to move 54 yards. Mays hit Cowan for two big pickups before calling his number on a 3-yard touchdown rush for a lightning-quick 13-0 lead.
“Every time we come up here, we struggle with the officiating,” Stanford said. “We started off with a good offensive rhythm but didn’t come away with anything. Things pretty much went downhill from there.”
Columbus again moved backwards on its next march before Dontrell Nelson intercepted Lee.
On just one play, Mays found Jaylen Miller in the corner of the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown pass. A second straight conversion failed and the hosts led 19-0 after one quarter.
The Olive Branch offensive machine continued to click with three more scoring drives in the second quarter. Mays hit Cowan for a 12-yard scoring strike, Malik Mayweather for a 10-yard scoring strike and Ryan Cordice for an 11-yard scoring strike.
Mays hooked up with seven receivers at Olive Branch rolled up 404 yards of offense in the first half.
“They really did beat us,” Jackson said. “But we helped them beat us. We made penalties and turnovers, way too many silly mistakes to win. And our secondary couldn’t cover anybody. It made for a bad start for us. But we didn’t quit and we kept battling. Now it is on to next week where we have to get the win.”
Columbus had 334 yards of offense. Jackson was 10 of 18 for 142 yards and one touchdown, while Lee was 7 of 11 for 135 yards and another touchdown. For only the second time this season, Damian Baker missed 100 yards. Baker had 18 rushes for 75 yards.
Olive Branch had 452 yards (48 in the final half). Mays was 18 of 24 for 346 yards. The Conquistadors’ lone second half score was a 31-yard field goal by Zack Wier on the final play of the third quarter.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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