Columbus knocks off Western to advance to football state semifinals in Class 8A
With a brand new coaching staff to adjust to, Columbus was a team struggling mightily midway through the season.
But whatever issues and adjustments needed to be worked out are clearly in the rear-view mirror after the Explorers turned in an impressive performance Thursday, beating Western 36-21 in the Region 4-8A final in front of a big crowd at Tropical Park.
After suffering a heartbreaking two-point loss to Jacksonville Mandarin in last year’s 8A state title game, Columbus now moves on to next week’s 8A state semifinal. The Explorers (9-4) will wait to see who wins Friday night’s Deerfield Beach-Vero Beach contest and likely will be rooting for Deerfield. If the Bucks win, Columbus will host Deerfield at Tropical on Nov. 29 in a possible early-afternoon game. If Vero wins, Columbus will travel north and play the Indians on the road.
“Just a great effort by all of the kids tonight,” said Columbus coach Dave Dunn, who is in his first year with the Explorers after spending the last two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Division III Colby College in Waterville, Maine. “We felt like things were starting to come together in the second half of the season and now we really have things clicking on all cylinders on both sides of the ball.”
If there was somebody Dunn really wanted to give his pats on the back to when the night was over, it was running back Henry Parrish.
The Pittsburgh commit, who came into the game as the runaway leader in rushing yards in Miami-Dade County with 1,970, was virtually unstoppable all night, finishing with 222 yards on 21 carries and scoring all four of his team’s touchdowns.
“I just wanted to come out and do whatever was necessary to help my team win and advance tonight,” said Parrish, who despite now having 2,192 yards on the season has hardly had many Power 5 teams banging on his door. “I don’t worry about all of the other stuff as far as not maybe getting a lot of looks. I know what I can do out on the field and that’s all that matters.”
With his team leading just 12-7 at the half, Parrish exploded with a huge third quarter. He scored from 11 yards out to cap off a nine-play, 75-yard drive to open the second half and then, after the Explorers defense forced a three-and-out, took off on a 73-yard score on the second play of the next drive to make it 26-7 and put Columbus in the driver’s seat.
But Western (9-3), which battled through a gauntlet of South Dade and Palmetto in the first two playoff rounds, wasn’t going to go away quietly.
On the second play of the fourth quarter, Collin Hurst found Shamarr Wright for a 48-yard touchdown to make it 26-14 before a fired-up Wildcats defense then forced a three-and-out.
But the Columbus defense, which was up to the task all night, then sacked Hurst twice on Western’s next possession. That was followed by an 11-yard punt, giving the Explorers the ball at the Wildcat 30. Eight plays later and after the Explorers soaked up plenty of clock, Alejandro Prado drilled a 25-yard field goal to make it 29-14 with just 5:32 left.
Western scored on a Hurst-to-Kauran St. Louis touchdown pass with 2:01 left to cut it to eight, but Xavier Henderson recovered the onside kick and Parrish put the capper on his big night when he bolted up the middle 55 yards for a score with 1:40 left.
“It was just a matter of us believing in each other and believing in our coaches,” said Parrish, when asked about how his team managed to put the wheels back on after the midseason struggles. “That’s all behind us now and now we just want to get back up to state and get that title we came so close to last year.”
Said Dunn: “I think everything turned around the night we went up to Dillard. Even though we lost, we came back on them in the second half with a bunch of guys hurt and Henry on the sidelines. I kind of sensed that was the night the kids started coming together. I told them that the early struggles were on me. That I brought too much with me from college and that I needed to pare down the playbook and simplify things, which is what we did. Now we’re seeing the results.”
It appeared Columbus would take the lead off its first drive as the Explorers drove 51 yards in 10 plays to Western’s 1-yard line, But on fourth-and-goal quarterback Brandon McDuffey mishandled the snap and Western’s Kevin Izquierdo recovered the loose ball.
Six plays later, the Explorers got the ball right back when Hurst lost the the handle on the ball as he was attempting to pass. Luther Johnson recovered the fumble.
On the very next play, Parrish took a direct snap, found a crease on the left side and bolted for a 25-yard score.
Early in the second quarter, thanks to a great Prado punt that died on the Western 1-yard line, Columbus linebacker Joseph Price stuffed running back Miles Friday before he could get out of the end zone on the next play for a safety and 9-0 lead.
Good field position off the free kick allowed the Explorers to drive to the Western 23 before Prado came in and nailed a 40-yard field goal with 6:41 left in the second.
With Hurst leading the way, the Wildcats offense finally came to life on their ensuing possession driving 80 yards in nine plays, scoring when Hurst found St. Louis for a 30-yard score 3:44 before the half.
This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 9:59 PM.