‘We never doubted ourselves.’ Now, the Columbus Explorers are heading back to state

There they were on Friday afternoon, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

A bunch of players collectively screaming “state-bound, state-bound.”

We’re talking about the Explorers of Columbus High School.

Two months ago, the Explorers were like road kill tossed to the side of the road. A struggling team with a brand new coaching staff that everyone had virtually dismissed and given up on.

But there they were, perhaps getting the last laugh on their doubters as they celebrated on the field at Tropical Park following a 28-21 victory over Deerfield Beach in a Class 8A state semifinal.

Columbus, one year after suffering a heartbreaking 37-35 loss to Jacksonville Mandarin in the state final and a team that slipped to 4-4 and “bottomed out” following a 35-0 running clock loss to University School in mid-October, is headed back to the state final.

With the state’s new format of small school state finals in Tallahassee first, the Explorers (10-4) will now enjoy a week off before heading to Daytona Beach to take on Apopka in the 8A state final on Dec. 13 at 7 p.m.

It will mark Columbus’ fifth state title game appearance including one in 2014 and two more back in 1982 and 1980, but the Explorers are still chasing that elusive first title.

“Daytona? Are you kidding? I was just worried about trying to win our next game and our own district,” Columbus head coach David Dunn said when asked if he could’ve ever believed two months ago he would be standing with his kids on the field talking about playing for a state title.

“This is the ultimate example of kids and coaches just staying with the process, not giving up on each other and really sticking with each other through a tough process. An incredible job today because we know how good Deerfield is and it took every bit of what we had as a team to get this done.”

Columbus got it done thanks to a balanced effort on both sides of the ball. The offense, as it does often, relied on star running back Henry Parrish but also got two huge touchdown plays in the second half that proved to be the difference in the game.

But the defense also came through as well. A remarkable goal-line stand in the second quarter, another defensive stop that forced a missed field and two second-half interceptions kept Deerfield and its star running back Jaylan Knighton at bay for much of the game.

The Bucks, a frustrated bunch as they left the field having lost their third state semifinal in the last four years including last year’s lopsided loss to the Explorers on their home field, cut their deficit to seven points with a late desperation drive.

Quarterback and Tulane commit Michael Pratt snuck over from a yard out completing a 15-play, 71 yard drive. But it ate up most of the clock and only 34 seconds remained. A Bucks onside kick attempt was safely secured by Xzavier Henderson, who delivered with one of those huge second-half plays earlier, and the celebrating on the Columbus sideline along with Explorer fans, who showed up in huge numbers, commenced.

“Nobody ever thought we’d be here but we never doubted ourselves,” said Parrish, who added to his county-leading rushing numbers as he trudged his way to 123 yards on 31 carries and two touchdowns and now has 2,315 yards on the season. “It was all about just believing in each other and knowing that if we stuck to the process and believed in our coaches that things would get better and they did. Today? I just did what I had to do. If they would’ve given it to me 40 times, I would’ve kept on going.”

Columbus couldn’t have asked for a better start as the Explorers dominated the first quarter, scoring on their opening drive on a Parrish 19-yard touchdown run and followed that up with a remarkable 9-play, 99-yard drive, Parrish scoring again from two yards out and it was 14-0 with 1:35 left in the first quarter.

Deerfield Beach (10-4) then put back-to-back drives together that made it to the Columbus one and the Columbus three and came away with nothing both times. The first thanks to a goal-line stand as they stuffed Pratt on back-to-back quarterback sneaks from the one before throwing Knighton for a 1-yard loss on fourth down. The second when placekicker Ygor Fiuza’s 25-yard field goal bounced off the left upright.

The Bucks kept plucking away and finally found the end zone on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Pratt to Deajaun McDougle just before halftime that sliced the Explorers’ lead to 14-7. Then came time for Columbus’ two biggest offensive plays of the day. Stuck at their own 5 early in the third quarter, it took all of one play to get out of that spot when quarterback Brandon McDuffey dropped back and lofted a perfect spiral down the left hand side that hit Henderson in stride. Henderson then outran two Bucks defenders to the end zone for a 95-yard score and 21-7 lead.

Knighton, who made headlines Thanksgiving Day when he went on Twitter and announced he was committing to play at the University of Miami, then drew the Bucks closer with a 37-yard touchdown run with 5:27 left in the third.

But the Explorers had a very quick answer for that. On the very next play following the kickoff, McDuffey dropped nothing more than a little dump pass over the middle to Jahvar McSween. But McSween, then broke two tackles and took off into open field turning it into an 80-yard catch-and-run touchdown which turned out to be the winning score. The defense took it from there as Joseph Price and Ahmere Foster each picked off Prat passes in the fourth quarter to preserve the 14-point lead.

Said Dunn: “Today was a great example of both sides of the ball contributing. When our offense was struggling (Columbus offense had four consecutive three-and-outs after those two opening touchdowns) our defense picked them up with some big plays and when our defense gave up a few scores, our offense came through and answered back. A great team effort.”