It’s impossible to miss.
No exclamation points or bold print are needed.
Two pieces of paper taped to the windows of the doors to the Columbus High School football team’s field house make that message clear with a pink highlighted line: Columbus (HC).
For those unfamiliar with football teams’ schedules, the HC means Homecoming, a time when former players, families, friends, and supporters of the program return to the school to celebrate what is expected to be a victory. Those fans can have that confidence because their team’s coach usually schedules a team he feels his team will be able to beat.
That’s the message Clinton High sent to Columbus when it made out its schedule for this season. The Arrows don’t have anything against the Falcons. It’s just that Clinton and its players feel they should be take care of business at 7 p.m. Friday when they play host to Columbus.
If last week is any indication, the Arrows have every right to feel that way. Clinton opened Class 6A, Region 2 play with a 47-35 victory against Madison Central, which is considered one of the favorites to come out of the region and make the playoffs. The win improved Clinton to 4-1 and 1-0 in the region.
On the other hand, Columbus fell to 1-4 and 0-1 with a 43-0 loss to Starkville, the state’s top-ranked team. Columbus coach Randal Montgomery said the Yellow Jackets’ defense was one of the best he has called plays against as a coach. When you consider Starkville’s offense is just as talented and has multiple weapons, he said it’s easy to see why Starkville is ranked where it is.
But Montgomery said the loss doesn’t change the Falcons’ mission: The team has to get better. While Montgomery saw positives against the Yellow Jackets, he said the Falcons need to improve in all facets if they are going to realize their goal and finish in the top four in the region to keep their season alive.
To do that, Montgomery knows Columbus will have to make strides in one of the state’s most competitive regions. It will try to do that Friday on what should be a festive night at Clinton High.
“It is what it is,” Montgomery said. “At the beginning of the season, coaches don’t go down their schedule and pick the toughest opponent and say this is going to be our Homecoming opponent. We all know how that goes. We all have picked Homecoming games, and you pick teams you feel comfortable you can beat. As a coach, there are so many distractions going on as it is, with Homecoming week, the parade, the pep rallies, alumni, and all that sort of stuff, so as a coach you definitely want to go down your schedule and pick the teams you feel you have a good chance to beat.
“My main thing to our kids is not so much talking about being someone’s Homecoming opponent is what are we going to do to try to make that change so that in the following years when people are making their schedule they are not looking for Columbus, they are looking for someone else.”
Montgomery didn’t have to deal with being the Homecoming opponent for opponents many times when he was head football coach at Hazlehurst High. In those three years, Montgomery guided his teams to the Class 3A state title game, including a state championship in 2012. He understands things are different at Columbus High, where the building process continues against a schedule of some of the state’s toughest teams. Columbus’ victory came in impressive fashion against Class 3A reigning champion Louisville in Columbus. But any momentum the Falcons gained from that game vanished against the Yellow Jackets. Starkville limited Columbus to 2 yards on 25 carries. The Falcons, who threw for 123 yards, trailed 23-0 at halftime and 43-0 at the end of three quarters.
Montgomery said he hasn’t emphasized one game doesn’t dictate how the rest of the region schedule is going to play out. Earlier in the season, Montgomery said he didn’t see any reason why Columbus couldn’t be one of the top four teams in a region that also features Northwest Rankin, Warren Central, Murrah, and Greenville. But he said Wednesday his message this week has focused on getting better.
“Coming off a week like last week, there really is only one thing we can do, and that is get better,” Montgomery said. “I don’t think it is one thing (we have to get better at). I think it has been just like every week. We are trying to get better in every area, and coming out of that ballgame against Starkville is no different.”
Montgomery knows that challenge will be difficult Friday night against a team that is coming off one of its best victories in recent memory. While the result against Madison Central might have surprised some, Montgomery knows coach Judd Boswell has done a good job building the Arrows. Last week, sophomore quarterback Cam Akers ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more to lead Clinton to its first victory against Madison Central since 2006.
“It is a tremendous challenge,” Montgomery said. “They have some good players. They are in year two or three of their program with their new coach, so they understand what he expects of them. They have a quarterback that is a really, really exciting player and is one of the top players in the state. He presents a lot of problems. … I think they will be focused and ready to play, so we have to do the same thing.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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