ABERDEEN — As the immortal Yogi Berra was fond of saying, it was “déjà vu all over again” for the Aberdeen High School football team.
For the second year in a row, the Columbus Falcons handed Aberdeen, the state”s top-ranked Class 3A team, a season-opening setback.
The Falcons squeaked by the Bulldogs by two points a year ago, but this time Columbus capitalized on several first-half Aberdeen turnovers and then wore down its outmanned hosts in the third and fourth quarters en route to a 31-14 win Friday.
Trailing 8-0 after one quarter after Aberdeen lineman Brandon Hodges recovered teammate Damien Walker”s fumble in the end zone and Channing Ward”s two-point conversion pass from freshman Josh Williams, Kenny Averhart”s interception on the first play of the second period set up a 17-yard touchdown run by Damian Baker that made it 8-7.
Two Aberdeen turnovers just before halftime resulted in a 17-8 Columbus lead thanks to an 86-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Quan Latham followed by a 32-yard field goal by straight-on kicker Michael Sturdivant, who also added a pair of point-after kicks.
“I thought the two turnovers just before the half did them in,” said Columbus head coach Tony Stanford, who has never lost to an Aberdeen team in his 16 years as an assistant and as a head coach at Louisville and in his four years at Columbus. “Those turnovers turned things around and then we kept them from scoring after they ran about eight minutes off the clock in the third quarter and got inside our 15-yard line.”
Aberdeen switched gears and went to its running game to open the third period. Twelve consecutive rushes resulted in a 12-yard touchdown run by Justin Lucas. But the Lucas score was nullified on a holding call. Jimmy Cockrell then intercepted an errant Josh Williams pass at the 6-yard line on the next play to end the threat.
Columbus” defensive stand inspired the offense, which dominated the Bulldogs down the stretch.
“With fresh players, they”re as good as we are,” Stanford said. “But after that stand in the third quarter, it became a numbers game and we have more players than they do.”
Columbus increased its lead to 24-8 on a 21-yard pass from Cedrick Jackson to Deontae Jones with 7 minutes, 13 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but Aberdeen responded with a touchdown on a 44-yard scoring strike from Williams to Jeremy Brandon to cut the lead to 24-14 with five minutes left.
Undaunted, Baker ripped off a 45-yard scoring run and Sturdivant added his fourth PAT kick a minute and a half later to account for the final.
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