Everything changed for the Columbus High School football team within five minutes of game time on Friday night.
Facing No. 4 Lafayette at home, the Falcons kicked a short field goal to end the first half — the first score of the game for either side. On the first drive of the second half, Lafayette quarterback Randy Anderson fumbled the ball on a long run, and Columbus pounced on it. The Falcons hit on a big trick play, and sophomore Bryson Lanier cashed in soon afterward with a 24-yard rushing score.
With 10 minutes, 4 seconds left in the third quarter, Columbus had a 10-0 lead on an excellent division opponent. The Falcons’ seniors, in their final home game, felt an upset win near. Columbus looked poised to overcome the most difficult challenge it had left on an unlikely but possible path to the playoffs.
But the same problem plaguing Columbus all year was present again. By the 5:31 mark of the quarter, the Falcons’ lead, their upset bid and their slim playoff chances were all history. With four unanswered scores in the second half, Lafayette (8-2) erased a 10-0 deficit and left town with a 27-10 victory over Columbus (3-7).
“We didn’t answer the call,” Columbus coach Joshua Pulphus said. “We got complacent.”
Pulphus said he’s seen quicker reversals of fortune in football, but Friday’s sure happened quickly. On the Commodores’ first offensive play after Columbus’ touchdown drive, Anderson ripped off a 43-yard run up the middle, and he held onto the ball that time. Four plays later, he ran in a 3-yard touchdown to cap a dominant offensive drive.
“They came and turned it up a lot in the second half,” Pulphus said of Lafayette. “They were firing off the football. They were being aggressive more.”
But the Commodores needed help, and they soon got it. Columbus quarterback Ethan Conner made what Pulphus said was a “bad pull” on a handoff to receiver Steven Turner, and the Falcons fumbled the football back to Lafayette 10 yards from their goal line. Two plays later, Anderson was in the end zone for the second of his four touchdowns, and the Falcons, suddenly trailing, were wondering how things had gone so wrong so fast.
Pulphus has an idea how: his team’s struggles to finish drives and keep the pressure on are well documented.
“Lafayette knows how to keep it going for 48 minutes,” he said. “We played good for 24, but that last 24, we didn’t step it up a notch. … We have to learn how to fight through adversity. We have adversity in life, adversity on the football field. We can’t just give up.”
While Columbus failed to score again, the Falcons certainly didn’t give up. Down 14-10, they even came close to another score, ending the third quarter facing fourth down from the Lafayette 24. On the first play of the quarter, Conner took the snap and ran toward the left side. He got two yards. But the Falcons needed three.
Three plays after that, Anderson took off down the left sideline for a 68-yard touchdown run, and Columbus’ chances at an upset and at making the playoffs were all but finished.
But to even have the possibility so late in the season, Pulphus said, means a lot. The Falcons went 2-9 in 2017 and 0-11 in 2018, and the first-year head coach knows this year marked the first in which his players could even raise the subject.
“For them to have that taste, for them to have that opportunity, for them to see what their hard work can do,” Pulphus said. “The sky’s the limit for us.”
After Friday’s game, he credited the work his seniors have done in changing the image of Columbus’ program in the community. Local support and engagement have increased this season, Pulphus said, and his team’s hard work is the reason why. The Falcons are happy to hear it.
“It feels good to be the ones who turned the program around,” senior Jaelan Craddieth said.
Columbus isn’t yet all the way there, of course. The Falcons’ season ends next week with a road game at Saltillo, and Pulphus said his team will soon start gearing up for the 2020 season.
But Friday’s senior night, while bittersweet for Pulphus, his players and families alike, was still enjoyable, and that’s all the Falcons can ask for when the result wasn’t in their favor.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t go the way we planned,” Craddieth said. “But it was fun.”
Lafayette 27, Columbus 0
Lafayette 0 0 14 13 — 27
Columbus 0 3 7 0 — 10
Second quarter
0:00 C — Darion Mosley 21 FG
Third quarter
10:04 C — Bryson Lanier 24 run (Mosley kick)
7:06 L — Randy Anderson 3 run (Andrew Pugh kick)
5:31 L — Anderson 5 run (Pugh kick)
Fourth quarter
10:36 L — Anderson 68 run (kick failed)
6:04 L — Anderson 12 run (Pugh kick)
Team statistics
L C
First downs 9 14
Rushes-yards 24-202 41-179
Passing yards 16 65
Comp.-att.-int. 2-2-0 6-11-1
Sacks 2 0
Penalties-yards 3-41 7-55
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-1
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Lafayette — Randy Anderson 17-173, Tyrus Carmichael-Williams 3-15, D.B. Bennett 2-9, Issac Vaughn 2-5; Columbus — Ethan Conner 19-92, Tawonn Troop 8-36, Bryson Lanier 3-19, Omari Williams 2-16, Karon Hawk Jr. 3-13, Joshua McCrary 1-6, Jaelan Craddieth 3-1, Jakaylin Lewis 1-1, Michael Mosley 1-(-5).
PASSING: Lafayette — Tyrus Carmichael-Williams 2-2, 16; Columbus — Ethan Conner 5-10, 37; Omari Williams 1-1, 28.
RECEIVING: Lafayette — Trikyus Woodall 1-9, Randy Anderson 1-7; Columbus — Ethan Conner 1-28, Jeremiah Lang 1-17, Omari Williams 3-11, Joshua McCrary 1-9.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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