COLUMBUS — New Hope and Columbus played a rivalry classic on Friday, with the visiting Trojans holding on against a late comeback to win, 27-25. It’s the program’s first win over Columbus since 2014, but both teams showed an improved level of play under their respective first-year head coaches. 

 “It’s a big team win, man,” Trojans head coach Allen Glenn said. “We didn’t play well, we’ll go watch the tape, it was a sloppy game. But our kids just found a way to win, and that’s probably what I’m most proud of. All the things that went wrong and we found a way in the end.”

The Trojans (4-1) led for most of the game, and never struggled too much making plays on offense. The Falcons (2-3) did enough to hang around though, and some big turnovers in the fourth quarter helped set up the dramatic finish. 

“It’s definitely one that hurts because it’s a rivalry,” Falcons head coach Barrin Simpson said. “You don’t want to be on the losing end of these games. Hats off to New Hope, they came in and fought. It came down to the wire, they got it done and we didn’t.”

Columbus made a lot of plays late in the game in all three phases. A defensive stand in the red zone to win the ball back, two fourth-quarter drives capped by Shaun Williams and Cortney Petty touchdowns, and a forced fumble by Quincy Butts with three minutes to go set the Falcons up for a potential game-winning drive. They drove to the edge of the red zone, but couldn’t convert on shots to the end zone as the Trojans held on. 

“The message is we had an opportunity to win the game, and we didn’t get it done,” Simpson said of the postgame team talk. “We’ve got to come back out and get ready for district play. That’s the next part of the season, but it’s regroup time. I think the offense did a good job getting us back in it. The defense played well and we knew New Hope was going to give us a fight. We made some plays but they made more plays than we did.”

One player who made a big difference for the Trojans was senior Lonnie Shinn Jr., a tight end and linebacker who made plays on both sides of the ball. His 44-yard touchdown gave the Trojans a 21-12 lead in the third quarter, and he added a sack and a fourth-down conversion in the final frame to set up the eventual game-winning touchdown. 

“What a game for him,” Glenn said of Shinn. “He’s awesome on offense, and we stole him a little bit for the defense this week and he made some plays. I’m proud of him and he does things the right way.”

When the two teams met a year ago they were both winless. This year, the game was as entertaining as any game in Mississippi on Friday night. It’s a credit to both teams how much the culture has already changed. The two head coaches tipped their hats to each other after the game, acknowledging each other’s hard work in Year 1 and that perhaps this is the first of many classic meetings between the two. 

“It was a classic, it was the Columbus-New Hope classic,” Simpson said. “This was one of those games. I hate we came out on the wrong end of it, it’s a tough one for the seniors who never lost this game before, but we knew this was a better New Hope team than who they played in the past. Coach Glenn is doing a great job over there.” 

“Hats off to Coach Simpson and his group,” Glenn said after the win. “They’re doing a good job and they’re going to win a lot of football games. They’ve got some great players, and it was a hot muggy night. It was 2014 the last time New Hope beat Columbus, 25-3 overall, but we were on top tonight.”