COLUMBUS — Columbus saw another game escape in the fourth quarter on Friday. The Falcons fell to Ridgeland at home, losing 41-26 in a high-scoring affair that once again saw a costly lack of discipline.
“It’s a process and we’ve got to learn,” Falcons head coach Barrin Simpson said. “We’ve had a tremendous amount of growth, but we’re not where we need to be to get things done.”
A focus this week for the Falcons was discipline. Simpson’s “4-D” focus on desire, determination and discipline to lead them to their destiny has been echoed all season long. The Falcons have shown the firepower to stay in games, but they haven’t been able to finish. Once again the game was within reach in the third quarter, but a combination of early and late mistakes proved costly.
“Right now we just have to go through the learning process of finishing games,” Simpson said. “We have got to learn that process. We’ve seen some growth but that’s our Achilles’ heel right now, finishing games, staying disciplined and staying in the game, doing what we do.”
The Falcons (2-6) couldn’t have started the game any better, with linebacker Jamylon Sparks scooping up a fumble and returning it for a touchdown on the opening drive of the game. The defense struggled to defend the run from there on out, however, with the Titans (5-3) scoring 21 straight points and holding the Falcons offense to two three-and-out drives.
Dkyren Henderson led a much-needed touchdown drive just before halftime, but the Titans came prepared with a two-minute drill. Quarterback DK Wallace spun out of pressure and hit receiver Jaylen Johnson for a 42-yard touchdown pass to take a 27-14 lead into the break.
The costly end to the first half paired with an early hiccup in the second, with a fumble on the first play from scrimmage gifting the Titans the ball in the red zone, where they would quickly make it a 34-14 game.
The Columbus offense got going and the defense made a couple of nice stops, but at 34-26 the offense sputtered to a halt again. A 65-yard touchdown run two plays later sealed the game for the visitors.
“We’ve got to put it together in all three phases and do it all at the right time,” Simpson said after the game. “Right now we aren’t getting that done consistently. We have spurts on offense, spurts on defense and special teams, but right now it’s not coming together well enough to finish games.”
The players were visibly frustrated after the game, partly because of the result and partly because of an exchange of pleasantries with the Titans after the final whistle. Simpson carried frustration as well, expressing his views bluntly. He wants to channel that energy in the right way and put the pieces together in a more complete week of practice.
“We need to continue doing the little things,” he said. “The most positive way to channel this frustration is to do what we need to do all week. I tell them all the time, you can’t just turn it on on Fridays. You’ve got to turn it on all week or the little things will come back to bite you in the butt.”
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