STEENS — Greg Watkins feels like he is in a similar position.
A year ago, his Columbus Christian Academy football team was poised to win its first district championship in 11-man football. All it had to do was beat Deer Creek Academy at home. Unfortunately, Columbus Christian couldn’t realize its goal in a 28-26 loss that featured five lead changes and two ties.
After the game, Watkins said that “was the most emotion and the most heart I’ve seen any team play with” since he had been at the school.
A year later, Watkins feels his team no longer is the underdog and that it is the favorite as it continues its quest to win the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class A, District 2 title. Columbus Christian will have to wait until Oct. 24 for its trip to Deer Creek Academy to get a chance to do that. Until then, Columbus Christian will play host to West Memphis Christian at 7 p.m. Friday and will take on Newton Academy next week in an effort to continue its momentum.
“We wanted to go into that last game with a chance of winning district,” Watkins said. “Last year, we were going in as the underdog and had to play a perfect game, and almost did. This year, we feel like we have the upper hand. We have a good group of guys and they have worked really hard, and we’re getting better with each game. We’re not looking ahead. We have two more games before then, but we’re putting in some new stuff and working out the kinks on some misreads and stuff like that so that we will be peaking when we get to that game.”
Columbus Christian (4-3, 2-0 district) is coming off a 47-0 victory against Park Place Christian last week. Earlier in the season, it earned a key 45-19 victory against Greenville Christian to make the final district game that much more important. Watkins said he saw a “whole lot more focus, a whole lot more maturity, and a whole lot more urgency” in his team in that game. He said those intangibles have been the biggest difference from last season, when the loss to Deer Creek dropped Columbus Christian to the No. 16 seed in the playoffs. A loss to top-seeded Natchez Trinity Episcopal ended the season.
“Bad as it is, losing the district the way we did has put a taste in this team’s mouth of not letting it happen,” Watkins said.
This season, Watkins hopes Columbus Christian can build a better resume that helps it survive in the postseason. Wins in the next two games and a victory against Deer Creek could push Columbus Christian to a higher seed, which could give the Rams a chance to play host to two playoff games. A district champion will play host to a first-round game.
Watkins said Homecoming week will provide even more distractions, but he said the leadership of players like senior KC Cunningham has helped keep the team focused. He is looking for the same mentality the next two weeks so the team can be at its best for the final district showdown.
“They know the importance of the power points and the next two games,” Watkins said.
Cunningham, who also is a standout on the school’s boys basketball team, said the team has more confidence this season. He said the two- to three-touchdown margin of victory in the first two district games helped the Rams know they could play as the hunter, not the hunted. He said playing hard will be a big key in the next three games.
“I think the difference is our work ethic and we’re closer and our team chemistry,” Cunningham said. “It shows out on the field that we can trust each other to do our assignments and we have confidence in each other because we have been working hard since the summer and we know what we can do. When we go out there and do it, it just makes us closer.”
Watkins credits the leadership of Cunningham, B.J. Shirley, one of the team’s top players on defense, and Grant Wyatt, among others. He said Shirley has improved as a lead blocker for Cunningham, while Wyatt has emerged as the player the Rams hoped he could be at middle linebacker.
“Last year, (Dawson and Kimarri) were ninth-graders, so they mostly played half-games,” Cunningham said. “It was a big transition for them to come up and be starters this year after being bench players last year. They are really taking on a role of being good players and working hard. When we need them for a first down, they will run hard and give their all. They expect us to give our all, and we give our all.
Grant and B.J. have always been good defensive players. They haven’t had that much experience. But since they have been playing defense since 10th and 11th grade, it is their senior year and they are showing out, and they are really good defensive players.”
The emergence of sophomore running back Kimarri Whitfield and quarterback Dawson Shaw also has helped give the offense more weapons. Watkins said that was true last week, when Whitfield ran for nearly 100 yards in the first half when Park Place was keying on Cunningham. Whitfield’s success forced the defense to adjust, which later helped Cunningham rush for more than 100 yards.
“(Dawson, who is listed at 5-foot-5) is real quick, and he has taken that quarterback spot and really built some confidence back there,” Watkins said. “He takes a lot of it off KC, too, because if they don’t key on Dawson, Dawson is down the field before they know it because of his quickness. We haven’t thrown the ball too much, but when we have we have been fairly effective just because of our running game. Having to get Dawson a little outside the pocket so he can see a whole lot better. In the pocket, he does a pretty good job of knowing where his receivers are and getting his pre-snap reads and seeing where the corners and safeties are before he turns the ball loose.”
One year after having a pass off a fake field goal tipped away to deny what looked like a sure touchdown against Deer Creek, Watkins hopes his team can focus on the next two non-district games and then get geared up to make history.
“Their work ethic and desire and them knowing this is it for them (has helped set the tone),” Watkins said. “They saw last year’s seniors having that opportunity. I think they made up in their minds that they don’t want that to happen to them. The roles they play, I think feed back from basketball, even being role players.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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