BATESVILLE — The No. 10 Columbus High School football team knew its margin for error was slim Friday night against No. 1 South Panola.
The Falcons then went out and fumbled the opening kickoff anyway.
Columbus fought for four quarters — a trait that has punctuated a five-game region winning streak — but the state’s top-ranked team didn’t need any extra favors in a 35-13 victory in a Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A, Region 1 game at Dunlap Stadium.
“We made some mistakes,” Columbus junior running back Kylin Hill said. “You can’t make mistakes and beat South Panola. We had some turnovers and we had some other mistakes. We knew we couldn’t make those mistakes. You just have to learn from it. We have to be better because of this loss.”
South Panola (10-0, 6-0 region) clinched the No. 1 seed in the region and will play host to the No. 4 seed from Region 2 when the playoffs start Nov. 13. Also on that day, Columbus will be the region’s No. 2 seed and will play host to the No. 3 seed from Region 2.
“We have a good football team,” Columbus junior quarterback C.J. Gholar said. “I think we learned that tonight. We didn’t a good job of handling adversity. To be a championship team, you have to learn how to handle adversity. We made some mistakes and got down. We kept battling, which is a good thing. We just need to find out what we can learn from this and how it can make us a better team.”
South Panola’s senior running back duo of Demetrius Market and Oluwain Hoskins proved to be as good as advertised. Hoskins had 10 carries for 137 yards and two touchdowns, while Market ran 15 times for 136 yards and three touchdowns. The Tigers had four runs of 38 yards or greater.
“It was a good defensive game plan,” said Columbus sophomore corner back Devon King, who along with senior Hezekiah Manigo had interceptions. “We just lost containment a couple of times. They have such a great offense. I thought we competed. There were a couple of third downs we would like to have gotten.
“The offense gave us a couple of touchdowns, so we had a chance. We just couldn’t stop their backs enough to get it done.”
The biggest drive took place in the closing minutes of the first half. Leading 14-7, South Panola appeared content to run out the clock until Hoskins broke a 59-yard run. On the play before, Tyler Pogue hit Cole Rotenberry for a 10-yard pickup on third-and-7.
South Panola capped the 81-yard drive with a 3-yard run by Market. The Tigers then took the second-half kickoff and put the game out of reach when Hoskins kept on a draw play for a 38-yard score on fourth-and-1 out of the wildcat formation.
“The drive to end the half was the back-breaker,” Columbus coach Randal Montgomery said. “We desperately needed to get the game to the half at 14-7. They broke one long run and we didn’t recover. I am proud of how well the kids competed, though. South Panola knows this was a game.”
South Panola intercepted Gholar on a screen pass to set up its first score. Hoskins cashed in for a 7-yard touchdown run.
Undeterred, Columbus drove 63 yards on eight plays to tie the game. Kylin Hill scored on a 1-yard run, but he appeared to injure his thumb on the play. He played through the pain the rest of the game.
South Panola answered one play later on a 56-yard run by Market. Despite three-straight touchdowns by the hosts, the Falcons kept battling.
“I think we showed what we are made of,” Gholar said. “We have the capability of being a special team. We just have to fix some things. We will be excited to play (at) Hernando (in the Nov. 6 regular-season finale).”
Trailing 28-7, Columbus had one nice drive stalled when Hill — still favoring the hand — fumbled. Eventually, the Falcons made it a two-score game on a 1-yard run by Hill.
Columbus got the ball back and drove deep again before turning possession over on downs.
Kendre Conner led Columbus with 20 rushes for 82 yards, while Hill had 14 rushes for 71 yards. Hill has eight of his 11 rushing touchdowns in the last three games.
“Our kids competed for 48 minutes,” Montgomery said. “This was a big game. It was good to get valuable experience in a big game.”
King said his squad knows the best is still ahead.
“This was fun,” King said. “We played the No. 1 team and gave them a game. We can go back and look at the film and see how close we are to being really good. It’s something to work for.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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