STEENS — After the opposing quarterback seemingly broke more tackles than there were Columbus Christian Academy defenders on the field, Rams coach Jeremy Brock shouted a message to his team from the home sideline.
“All we’ve got to do is tackle,” Brock reminded his players.
For the Rams in Friday’s season opener against Christian Collegiate Academy, that was easier said than done.
Columbus Christian (0-1) struggled all evening to bring down Bulldogs ball-carriers, resulting in a 62-24 loss to Christian Collegiate (1-0) in Steens.
“We missed a lot of open-field tackles, and in eight-man football, that’s the one thing you’ve got to do well — you’ve got to tackle well in space,” Brock said.
Unfortunately for the Rams, tackling was perhaps the one thing they did worst on Friday. Their offense was solid, rolling to three first-half touchdowns and battling the Bulldogs to a 22-18 halftime score.
But Christian Collegiate built on its four-point lead, pulling away from Columbus Christian with four touchdowns in less than six minutes to begin the second half.
Quarterback DJ Biggs ran for four scores and passed for another for the Bulldogs, including two rushing scores and a 39-yard passing touchdown to Aidan Castillo in the third quarter alone.
The Bulldogs took control from the start of the third quarter with a kick return to the Rams’ 35-yard line. Two plays later, Biggs outstripped the defense for a 35-yard touchdown run.
“They jumped on us, scored real quick and got the momentum on us,” Brock said.
It didn’t take long for Christian Collegiate to turn a close game into a blowout. Biggs’ 36-yard touchdown with 4:04 to play in the third quarter triggered a running clock by MAIS rule with the Bulldogs’ lead above 35 points.
“We had a little trouble starting off, but we got right,” Christian Collegiate running back Traevone Bailey said. “We got it together.”
Columbus Christian answered Biggs’ final score of the day with a 54-yard bomb from Drake Shaw to McCory Humphres, but it didn’t make much of a dent in the deficit.
And Christian Collegiate added one final touchdown to an ink-filled ledger as Bailey ran for a 38-yard score in the fourth quarter.
It was his second touchdown of the day, following a 70-yard rushing score just more than a minute in. That first touchdown provided a needed answer for the Bulldogs after the Rams’ Garrett Weathers collected the opening kickoff and ran it back 81 yards to pay dirt.
Weathers, a transfer from South Lamar (Alabama), looked impressive in his debut for Columbus Christian. The junior quarterback added a 1-yard score on a read-option run in the second quarter, completely fooling the Christian Collegiate defense.
But Weathers left the game with an undiagnosed injury before the half. He did not return.
“He just wasn’t quite himself,” Brock said. “We all love this game, but health’s more important.”
Brock praised Shaw’s play in Weathers’ place but said the Rams found it hard to adjust once their starting quarterback was knocked out early.
“We’ve just got to have everybody ready to go,” he said. “Eight-man, you’re one injury away from things looking different, so everybody’s got to be ready to play.”
Beau Kemp ran for a 21-yard touchdown for the Rams at the end of the first quarter, but Biggs had a pair of rushing scores for the visitors in the first half. He scored from 31 yards out before a first-quarter play was wiped out by a holding penalty; on the next snap, he scored from 41 yards out instead.
Biggs added a 4-yard scoring run midway through the second quarter, giving Christian Collegiate the lead heading into halftime.
From there, it was all Bulldogs in a game Columbus Christian would love to have back.
“It was a tough one,” Brock said. “Christian Collegiate’s got a great ball team. It wasn’t a district game, so it’s something we can go back and look at the film and grow from it. I think we’ll be much improved next week.”
The Rams will travel to Marvell Academy (Arkansas), which lost 30-18 on Friday to West Memphis Christian (Arkansas), next week.
“They’re a team that’s always well coached, a good team, so we’ve got to really lock in and have a good week of practice and get ready to win next week,” Brock said.
Christian Collegiate Academy 62, Columbus Christian Academy 24
Christian Collegiate Academy (1-0) 16 6 32 8 — 62
Columbus Christian Academy (0-1) 12 6 6 0 — 24
First quarter
Columbus Christian — Garrett Weathers 81 kick return (run failed), clock 9:47
Christian Collegiate — Traevone Bailey 70 run (DJ Biggs run), clock 8:52
Christian Collegiate — Biggs 41 run (Sean Fairley run), clock 7:06
Columbus Christian — Beau Kemp 21 run (run failed), clock 0:02
Second quarter
Columbus Christian — Weathers 1 run (kick failed), clock 8:44
Christian Collegiate — Biggs 4 run (pass failed), clock 5:23
Third quarter
Christian Collegiate — Biggs 35 run (Biggs run), clock 9:33
Christian Collegiate — Devin Lowe 46 pass from Fairley (Fairley run), clock 7:06
Christian Collegiate — Aidan Castillo 39 pass from Biggs (Keshaun Harris pass from Biggs), clock 5:36
Christian Collegiate — Biggs 36 run (Biggs run), clock 4:04
Columbus Christian — McCory Humphres 54 pass from Drake Shaw (pass failed), clock 1:58
Fourth quarter
Christian Collegiate — Bailey 38 run (Josiah Colwell run), clock 5:21
Individual statistics
PASSING: Columbus Christian Academy — Drake Shaw 4-11, 60; Garrett Weathers 2-5, 28.
RUSHING: Columbus Christian Academy — Garrett Weathers 129, Beau Kemp 9, Jonah Harrison 4, Drake Shaw 1.
RECEIVING: Luke Phillips 29, Grant Robinson 20, Drake Shaw 11, McCory Humphres 11.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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