Columbus’ defense and special teams set table for another dramatic championship finish
Years from now, Columbus football fans will understandably remember the trick play touchdown pass from receiver A.J. Arellano to quarterback Alberto Mendoza that secured the school’s second-ever state championship.
But the Explorers don’t get the chance to run it without multiple key plays their defense and special teams made throughout their dramatic 16-13 overtime win over Apopka on Saturday night at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
The biggest of those game-changers came from senior defensive back Ahmere Foster - the only holdover from Columbus’ first state title team in 2019.
With one second remaining in regulation, Apopka attempted a would-be championship-clinching 33-yard field goal. But Foster shot through the line and swatted Hayden Koscicki’s kick to send the game to overtime.
In 2019, Foster was a freshman on the sideline watching the Explorers beat Apopka with a late two-point conversion with six seconds left.
“I saw everybody rushing so I knew I had to get around that block quick and get to it,” Foster said. “After that, we knew we’d get that W. We just kept motivating each other and telling each other we had to finish.”
Columbus’ defense yielded 320 rushing yards to Apopka’s hybrid offense, which runs some single-wing and spread formations. But it also forced four fumbles and recovered three in the first half to keep the Blue Darters off the scoreboard and allow Columbus to take a 10-3 lead by halftime. And that unit did all this without junior five-star defensive end T.J. Capers, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second round of the playoffs.
The Explorers also held their ground on Apopka’s lone overtime possession, forcing the Blue Darters to settle for a Koscicki 22-yard field goal.
“Our scout team did an unbelievable job of playing the other team’s offense so they are the unsung heroes,” Columbus coach Dave Dunn said. “That’s not an easy offense to mimic. It’s not easy to stop that and our guys did a good job to come up with enough key stops to put them in some long-yardage situations and get them out of the single-wing. That’s a great goal line offense and you put them first down at the 10, you’re up against it. But our defense did a great job.”
Foster’s block was one of two blocked field goals for Columbus in the game. Senior defensive tackle Derrick Hart had the other in the second quarter.
“We’ve been doing this for a long time, and now all our hard work is showing,” Hart said. “Columbus is legit. We had to beat them and we did whatever it took to win.”
Sophomore linebacker Hector Chavez continued his late-season surge, recovering one of those fumbles and leading the Explorers’ defense with 20 tackles.
Senior Ja’Juan Bradshaw totaled 16 tackles and junior tackle Daylen Russell finished with 11 tackles and a sack.
Junior cornerback Jeffery Bandy and senior linebacker Miles McGee recovered the other two fumbles.
“We told each other that we work harder than they do and we weren’t going to let them outplay us,” Chavez said. “We kept talking to each other and kept the energy up. We just said the score was 0-0 and we had to fight to the end of the fourth quarter. We just had to finish.”
This story was originally published December 17, 2022 at 11:32 PM.
