WEST POINT — Columbus High School football coach Randal Montgomery has experienced nights like the one he had Friday.
Columbus moved inside the West Point 20-yard line four times Friday night at Hamblin Stadium. However, the Falcons only had three points to show for those efforts.
The Columbus defense held as long as it could before West Point ripped off two touchdowns to take a 13-3 victory.
“It has been the story of our season,” Montgomery said. “We are in a position and can’t score. We have a talented football team, but we have to make plays in the red zone. That has been our challenge all season. We will keep working at it. We will keep getting better.
“It is frustrating, but all we can do is keep working.”
Columbus (2-2) had 559 yards of offense last week in a victory against New Hope. Columbus moved into New Hope territory 12 times but had seven possessions where it didn’t score. In a loss to Noxubee County, Columbus turned the ball over three times inside the Noxubee County 15.
The turnover problem has been slowed. Against Noxubee County, Columbus turned the ball over six times. In wins against Kemper County and New Hope, there was one turnover in each game. Against West Point, Columbus had two turnovers, including an interception on the West Point 19.
Kiren Sharp opened the game with an 80-yard kickoff return for Columbus. The Falcons were held to no yards and had to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Chris Taylor.
“The kick return was huge,” Montgomery said. “It gave us really good field position. You knew this would be a run-oriented game with both defenses being so tough, so you really wanted to control field position. We did that and had so many chances.”
West Point (2-1) took a 13-3 lead on a Marcus Murphy 82-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and a Chris Calvert 57-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
“We played well, but we got beat on two plays,” Columbus senior linebacker Damonta Kidd said. “We had a great game on defense. It gets frustrating sometimes when we don’t score, but we just have to keep battling. That is the biggest thing.”
Trailing 6-3, Columbus had a drive end with a missed field goal on the West Point 12. Another possession ended on downs at the West Point 19 in the fourth quarter.
“We moved the ball well, even though the statistics didn’t show it,” Montgomery said. “We had some success. However, we didn’t take advantage of our scoring chances. We have worked on the turnovers and gotten better there. However, we just have to start making plays in the red zone.”
Sharp added a 55-yard kickoff run to his initial return.
However, the ground game was throttled. Kylin Hill and Kendre Conner entered the game with four 100-yard rushing games combined. Hill was held to 42 yards on 13 rushes, while Conner managed 24 yards on eight rushes.
On the other side, the Columbus defense turned in another masterpiece. While Murphy and Calvert topped 100 yards, the Green Wave gained only 167 total yards outside the two scoring plays.
“The defense is playing with a lot of confidence,” Kidd said. “Even though we have lost a couple of games, we know we have all the region games ahead. We just have to keep working hard and keep getting better.”
Lawrence Tate had a fumble recovery for Columbus’ lone takeaway. Chris Blair had two key sacks, including one to force a turnover on downs. Derrick Beckom, Christopher Deloach, and Hezekiah Manigo continued the strong start to their seasons.
Columbus will have an open date to work on the offensive kinks. Class 6A, Region 1 play will begin Sept. 25 when Columbus plays host to DeSoto Central.
“Our defense has played well all season,” Montgomery said. “We have a lot of games left. We have a couple of weeks to get ready to have this thing going for region play. It’s time to see (the defense) get rewarded more often for their efforts.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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