NEW HOPE — Columbus football endured five long weeks heading into Friday night’s rivalry game against New Hope.
Facing opponents like Noxubee County and Louisville, among others, the Falcons faced a veritable gauntlet, emerging from that gauntlet winless.
They needed to make a statement before district play, and did just that in Friday’s 23-0 shutout win over New Hope.
Behind a stellar run game and excellent defense, Columbus persevered, notching its first win of the season in dominant fashion.
“It’s great, man,” Columbus head coach Josh Pulphus said. “I’m so proud of my guys and the way they performed, the way they kept working. Offense and defense, they have to have each other’s backs. Last week, the offense had the defense’s back. This week, the defense had the offense’s back.”
That defense pitched its first shutout of the season, holding New Hope (0-5) to less than 100 yards of total offense in the win.
By the time the Trojans started putting drives together, late in the fourth quarter, Columbus (1-5) had a comfortable, two-score lead that it would never relinquish.
Friday was a fast-paced game, dictated mostly on the ground, and the Falcons had the run game firing on all cylinders.
Senior Reginald Wilkins ran for two rushing touchdowns, and junior Shaun Williams powered through the Trojan defense, sealing the win with a 77-yard run in the fourth quarter that led to Columbus’s final touchdown of the game.
“The running game was great,” Pulphus said. “That’s one thing that we’ve constantly tried to preach in improving on. We’re going to be working on getting that passing game up-to-date as well.”
While there were plenty of positives on Columbus’s sideline, especially the euphoria of finally breaking through for that elusive first win of the season, there weren’t many positive takeaways for New Hope.
The Trojans were dominated on offense and defense, and New Hope just didn’t have an answer for the Falcons, who had a number of sacks and tackles for loss.
“We have a standard,” New Hope head coach Seth Stillman said. “We try to not focus on the opponent and play New Hope every week and we play our standard. The problem we’re having is that when the game seems like it’s out of reach, the losing starts creeping in your mind. When that happens, we revert back and it’s not about the standard anymore.”
That’s seven-straight wins in the rivalry for Columbus, and this one was all the more important with district play starting next week against Callaway.
“It’s a rivalry game,” Pulphus said. “We knew it was going to be chippy. We knew there was going to be a lot of stuff that was going on, but in the end, I’m proud of the guys and I’m proud of the work they put in.”
Columbus 23, New Hope 0
Columbus (1-5) 8 0 8 7 – 23
New Hope (0-5) 0 0 0 0 – 0
First quarter
C – Cameron Aaron 62 fumble return (Shaun Williams two-point conversion), clock 7:32
Third quarter
C – Reginald Wilkins 13 run (Williams two-point), clock 3:50
Fourth quarter
C – Wilkins 4 run (Antonio Johnson kick), clock 3:18
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