Coming off a home loss to Noxubee County last week in which Columbus did not score an offensive touchdown until the final two minutes, the Falcons’ schedule does not get any easier. Columbus hosts Louisville, ranked No. 6 in Mississippi by MaxPreps, at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Falcons (0-2) were tied with Houston entering the fourth quarter of their season opener on Aug. 25 before falling short, 22-16. In the 28-16 loss to Noxubee County, Columbus’ only score of the first half came on a fumble return by Shaun Williams before the Falcons picked up a garbage time touchdown on a 39-yard pass from senior quarterback Jaquavious Bankhead to senior Antonio O’Neal Jr.

Columbus has been successful on two-point conversion attempts after each of its four touchdowns this season. Williams ran in the first one last week after his defensive score, and Bankhead hit freshman receiver Dariyus Swanigan for the final two points of the loss to the Tigers.

“Offensively, we knew the guys had to mesh and get it together,” Falcons head coach Josh Pulphus said. “We knew we were going to have some good and some bad because of the level of competition we were playing.”

Bankhead is in his first year as the starting quarterback, and Pulphus said Columbus wanted to accelerate his learning curve early on by playing strong teams in non-district play.

“The team is doing a good job of helping him grow,” Pulphus said. “I’ve been so proud of our boys for how they’ve practiced and how they’ve been so uplifting to Jaquavious and allowed him time to make mistakes and learn.”

Louisville (2-0) won the MHSAA Class 4A state championship last season and has won its first two games this fall by a combined 66-13. Junior quarterback Xavier Hunt has completed 19 of 32 passes over those two victories for 218 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Senior Jaylin Jordan is the Wildcats’ top running back with 140 yards, but fellow senior Kendon Sanders has four of his team’s five rushing touchdowns.

Pulphus said his team will need to play sound defense and be fast and aggressive to slow down Louisville’s high-powered offense. The Falcons will also have to limit mistakes on offense and take care of the ball to avoid giving the Wildcats a short field.

Against Noxubee County, Columbus turned the ball over on its first three possessions — heavy rain falling throughout the evening did not make things easy.

“(Louisville) is one of the most complete teams we have seen thus far,” Pulphus said. “We limit our turnovers and maintain drives, those will be some of the keys we have for victory this week.”