COLUMBUS — The Columbus Falcons battled until the very end, but ultimately fell, 50-36, to the Callaway Chargers on Friday night at CHS Stadium.
Under a picture-perfect sky, the Falcons and Chargers took the field and wasted no time trading blows.
After a back-and-forth battle between the two squads throughout much of the first quarter, Chargers running back Marvin Moore took over and left the Falcons defense in shambles — running over defenders and speeding down the sidelines for three scores in the first half.
“Well, we did battle to the end (and) our guys are going to fight,” first-year head coach Barrin Simpson said. “It just wasn’t a night we executed very well, especially defensively, we didn’t execute very well. We got to be better than that. When our offense gives us 36 points, we should win. I felt we did some good things offensively, but defensively, we didn’t. We did not step up to the task.”
The Falcons did not go down without a fight, however. Simpson’s squad continued to battle and give it their all on the gridiron in the coach’s first regional game at the helm in Columbus.
Falcons signal-caller Dkyren Henderson took advantage of every opportunity the Chargers secondary gave him in the contest, throwing for four touchdowns and keeping the game within reach.
Henderson flashed at quarterback for Columbus, bringing the home crowd off their feet numerous times throughout the contest with his impressive accuracy and ability to throw in tight windows.
Despite an interception on a last-minute heave, Henderson showed tremendous athleticism and grittiness by staying in the pocket and delivering his throws on-target to his supporting cast of wideouts.
“DK is growing every day,” Simpson said regarding Henderson’s performance. “He’s going out there and making plays. He’s a running back turned quarterback and he’s doing a good job for us and what we do, so I was proud of what he did and how executed.”
The Falcons pulled within two touchdowns with four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but the Chargers rushing attack, led by Moore, gained yardage in chunks and kept Callaway in front of Columbus.
In the end, the physicality and athleticism of the Chargers running back room was too much for the Columbus defensive unit, who simply could not find a way to stop Callway’s potent rushing attack in Friday night’s matchup.
The group never gave up, however, and Columbus continued to battle until the scoreboard alarm sounded throughout the stadium.
As their Week 7 contest looms, Simpson’s crew aims to improve their consistency in executing and sticking to their identity in hopes of getting back on the right track.
“We have to be hitting on all cylinders next time to get ourselves in a position to win the game, but we didn’t do that tonight,” Simpson said. “We don’t want to just fight, we want to fight and win. We want to be consistent with our execution. We’re consistent in playing good football, but we can’t be up and down and inconsistent. We got to learn how to be more consistent.”
With the loss, the Falcons are now 2-4 on the season and 0-1 in Region 2-5A play.
Columbus travels to Neshoba Central next Friday night to take on the Rockets. Next week’s contest will mark the fourth meeting between NCHS and CHS with the Rockets winning all three previous matchups. Kickoff between the two regional foes is set for 7 p.m.
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