SOUTHAVEN — Columbus High School senior quarterback C.J. Gholar and senior wide receiver Michael McCloud have run hundreds of passing routes together.
On some late summer evenings, the close friends worked long hours in the grueling sun looking for that perfect throw and perfect catch.
Many of those routes and throws were harder to complete than the ones they attempted Friday night.
McCloud and Gholar connected for three touchdowns and 158 yards through the air to help the Columbus set new standards under coach Randal Montgomery for total points and yards in a 59-13 victory against DeSoto Central in the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 6A, Region 1 opener for both teams.
“I don’t ever recall being that open,” McCloud said. “Your heart beats fast because you know the ball is coming to you when you are that open. You have the throw. You have the catch. There were times during the summer when it wasn’t that easy.”
Columbus (3-2, 1-0 region) beat DeSoto Central 23-21 on a field goal by Chris Taylor in the closing minutes a year ago. Taylor hit a career-long 39-yarder Friday to cap 52 unanswered points by the Falcons.
“This is how we wanted to start,” Columbus junior running back Patrick Jackson said. “It started Monday in practice. I thought we had the best week of practice I have ever been a part of. The preparation was great. The coaches gave us a plan. The execution was great. It’s just one down, but we like how it happened.”
Columbus had twice scored 49 points in Montgomery’s three seasons. The Falcons reached that mark with 2 minutes, 52 seconds left in the first half. They churned out 791 yards — roughly 200 yards better than the previous mark.
“The kids really responded,” Montgomery said. “We didn’t start well and had to overcome that. It is always difficult to play on the road, three hours from home. You have to have some self-motivation. You really need something good to happen early. It didn’t happen for us early, but the kids kept working at it.”
In a 17-13 loss to West Point two weeks ago, Columbus scored only three times in eight red-zone possessions. The last thing the Falcons needed Friday was a brilliant opening drive end when Gholar was stripped of the football at the DeSoto Central 3-yard line. Mont Spann ran the fumble back 91 yards for a touchdown.
DeSoto Central scored on its next possession and led 13-7 late in the first quarter.
Columbus then scored on seven-straight possessions to build a 49-13 halftime lead.
Columbus worked through some offensive line issues early in the season. Things appear to be working much better now. In the first two games, Columbus ran for 315 yards. In the last three games, the number has ballooned to 1,137 yards.
Gholar was 9 of 13 for a career-high 308 yards. He threw one touchdown to McCloud and another to Kylin Hill.
Columbus ran for more than 10 yards per rush with 483 yards on 48 tries. Hill had his fifth career 200-yard game with 239 yards on 12 rushes. He had three rushing touchdowns, including a 76-yard run.
Hill also had a 46-yard touchdown catch from Gholar and a 42-yard kickoff return.
Jackson ran for 100 yards on four tries, including a 78-yard touchdown run. The run slowed to a walk for the last 5 yards.
“I have been waiting for two years to break a long run,” Jackson said. “The two touchdowns were great, but I had really been wanting a long run. I will admit, though, I got tired. It was hard finishing it.”
Sophomore Derrick Jordan also scored his first varsity touchdown with a 15-yard run.
Columbus did it without leading rusher Kendre Conner, who was ejected from the West Point game and had to sit out the first three quarters.
“I thought we played with a lot of confidence,” Gholar said. “After the turnover, it was important we come right back and score. After we scored a couple of times, everybody felt good about that we were trying to do.”
In the non-region portion of the schedule, Columbus finished 2-2 for a second-straight season. Last week, the Falcons had an open date, which proved critical.
“The time off was great,” Jackson said. “We changed some things up and everybody got re-energized. We have seven region games and each of them is important. I just felt like the team had a different attitude at practice this week and it carried over to the field.”
On defense, Columbus held DeSoto Central (4-2, 0-1) to 60 yards, slightly better than a yard per play. The Jaguars had five first downs and were shut down after scoring midway through the first quarter.
On a jump ball, Derrick Beckom stole an interception from a wide receiver. It was the Falcons’ only takeaway, but style points weren’t necessary.
Things might be different next week when undefeated Tupelo comes to Falcon Field for the next region game. The momentum generated against DeSoto Central can only help.
“It was our night all the way around,” McCloud said. “We got to find a way to do this again.”
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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