It”s time for the Columbus High School football team to prove their coach right.
Bubba Davis has said repeatedly through the first five weeks of the season that the Falcons are improving and that it is a matter of time before they put things together.
No time could be better than at 7:30 tonight when Columbus kicks off its Class 6A, Region 1, District 2 schedule against Tupelo.
Columbus (1-3) has lost three in a row since a season-opening home victory against Aberdeen.
And while the Falcons have played well against Noxubee County, West Point, and Louisville, Davis knows the little things have added up to prevent his team from getting another victory.
He hopes that will change tonight.
“The effort has been very, very good,” Davis said. “The thing that has killed us is our mental mistakes. If we eliminate 10 or 11 mistakes we could be sitting here 4-0 and really primed to get into our district schedule, but we made the mistakes that kept us from winning. As coaches, we just have to hope at this point we have showed them what we have done to ourselves and find a way to eliminate what we”re doing to ourselves and keep playing as hard as we have played.”
Last week, Deontae Jones caught a 25-yard pass from Cedric Jackson to give Columbus a 7-0 lead in the first quarter against Louisville. But the Falcons allowed Zan Carter to return the ensuing kickoff 82 yards. The return erased any momentum the Falcons might have had.
Davis said his players had the right attitude in practice this week, and he feels they will be ready to take on a Tupelo team that also will be hungry for a victory.
The Golden Wave (0-3) have lost to New Hope (28-17), Itawamba (35-13), and Louisville (20-17). They are coming off a bye week.
“They are like us and have played some good football teams,” Davis said. “They are not as young as we are, but they are playing kids who are juniors who really didn”t play last year. They are like we were last year, with young but older kids. We understand what”s going on with them because we have dealt with it. They make a few plays here and there and their season would be different up to this point.”
Davis said Tupelo could have better receivers than Louisville, which will present a challenge for the defense. On offense, he said Tupelo runs well to the ball. He expects nothing but a top-notch effort from the Golden Wave, and he hopes his players will be able to deliver the same thing.
“I think the kids are finally realizing they are close to getting it turned the way they want it to, just like the coaches,” Davis said. “I think we have more of them that understand that than we ever have before. It takes all of us to get it done. As coaches we are still excited. It is good to see them evolving up and to see the improvement we see in them and how their attitudes are changing.
“Aberdeen was big for us, but it is time to get another win. The next win hopefully will give us the confidence we need to get this thing rolling.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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