Fitzgerald’s four takeaways highlight Columbus’ season-saving comeback vs. Western
Bryce Fitzgerald, a junior free safety for Columbus, was understandably a bit nervous before playing in his first regional final.
That was until he got a little pep talk from his coaches.
“My coaches came to me before the game because it was my first big playoff game like this, and I was a little nervous,” Fitzgerald said. “But they told me I’d have the best game of my life. And I did.”
Fitzgerald didn’t just have the game of his life. He helped save Columbus’ season, recording three interceptions and recovering a fumble that highlighted a 31-13 comeback victory over Davie Western in the Region 4-4M final on Friday at Tropical Park.
Columbus (11-2) advanced to the state semifinals for the third consecutive season and fifth time in a row when it played in the FHSAA state series. The Explorers opted out of the state series and played in the Tri-County championship during the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
Columbus will host Tampa Plant in a Class 4M state semifinal next Friday at Tropical Park.
“This was the best game of my life,” said Fitzgerald, who transferred from rival Belen Jesuit before this season. “Our coaches keep telling us to keep our heads up. We’re a second half team so I knew we could come back.”
For the second consecutive season, Western (9-4) lost its starting quarterback in the postseason.
But this time, Western hoped its defense’s stingy play of late and improved running game would be enough to offset the loss of senior Davi Belfort to an ankle injury.
A year after losing in the regional semifinals after then-starting quarterback Collin Hurst suffered a season-ending injury, he was back on the Western sideline alongside Belfort, who had his left leg in a protective boot.
Senior defensive backs Nathan Jean and Zyon Pressley each intercepted Columbus starting quarterback Alberto Mendoza and returned those picks for touchdowns to put Western ahead 13-3 after three quarters.
But then Mendoza and the hard running of Edward Bandy engineered Columbus’ first offensive touchdown as Bandy scored from 2 yards out.
That’s when things fell apart for Western as the Explorers’ defense, which did not allow an offensive score, forced four of its six turnovers for the game.
“Our defense and special teams carried us for three quarters and that’s how we’ve been all year,” Columbus coach Dave Dunn said. “If we don’t turn the ball over twice, it’s a different game. We just kept killing ourselves. I think our size and physicality wore them down by the end of the game.”
Junior quarterback Koby Howard, who started in place of Belfort, was sacked and stripped of the ball by Willis McGahee IV, allowing defensive back Jancent Wallace to return the fumble 58 yards for a touchdown that put the Explorers ahead for good, 17-13, with 7:05 left in the fourth.
Fitzgerald then picked off Howard, setting up an 18-yard touchdown run by Bandy, who finished with two touchdowns and 76 yards on 11 carries.
Fitzgerald, who has offers from several Power 5 schools including Florida, Michigan and UM, returned his second interception of the quarter 60 yards for a touchdown before Jeff Bandy recorded another interception late in the fourth.
Western had not allowed more than 14 points during its six-game winning streak entering Friday’s game.
“He’s always around the ball and he makes plays and makes good things happen,” Dunn said of Fitzgerald. “There were a couple of good runs there by Alberto and ‘Speedy’ (Bandy). Our sideline knew we could win this game. We didn’t get on each other. We knew we could do it. It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll fix the things that need fixing.”
