A fresh start, but still same goal for Columbus: Win school’s first state football title
After falling just a few points short of claiming their first state football title last season, the Columbus Explorers are ready for a fresh start.
A fresh start that includes a new head coach in Dave Dunn, a familiar face who served as Columbus’ head coach in 1999 and 2000. Dunn replaces Chris Merritt, who accepted a job to become the head coach at Bryant University this offseason after leading the Explorers for the past 18 seasons.
Despite all of the past success under Merritt with 14 district titles and two trips to the state championship game in his 18 seasons at the helm, Columbus has never won a state football championship. That elusive title remains the ultimate goal under Dunn.
“Just trying to achieve something that has never been achieved at the school is probably how I phrase it,” Dunn said when asked about his approach in his first season back at Columbus. “Just because it was a different coaching staff. It’s nothing against Coach Merritt. I know Coach Merritt. He replaced me, I replaced him, so we’ve known each other for years. But we’re just trying to close the book on that. Our goal is to win a game that no one in this school has ever won before.”
Columbus nearly accomplished history last season, falling 37-35 to Jacksonville Mandarin in the Class 8A state championship. The Explorers rallied from a 37-21 fourth-quarter deficit, but they couldn’t convert the two-point conversion attempt that would have tied the score with less than two minutes to play.
“It hurt us last year,” said Columbus star running back Henry Parrish, who took the handoff on that two-point conversion attempt. “As seniors, we know how bad it hurt last year and how it feels to come up two points short in the state championship.”
This year, Columbus’ group of seniors led by wide receiver Xzavier Henderson, defensive end Elijah Roberts and Parrish are determined to get back to the state championship game and win it. The Explorers return five starters on offense and five starters on defense from last season.
“It’s in the past, but it’s still not forgotten,” said Roberts, a three-star defensive end who is committed to Miami. “Our team felt like we did all the right things last year in practice, off the field and on the field. Our team got to where we wanted to go, but it wasn’t the result that we wanted.”
Dunn said he hasn’t heard much conversation among players about that painful loss. But he knows it’s still vivid in their minds.
“They don’t talk about it. They really don’t,” Dunn said. “I think in the back of their minds, it has to still be there. You lose a big game like that by two points. There are games I played in high school that we lost that I still think about. So there’s no question. But they don’t talk about it, though. If someone asked what’s the most surprising thing, if I had to answer that question, it would be that. They never talk about it.”
Henderson, who has kept the wristband and undershirt he wore in the state championship loss, doesn’t want to forget how last season ended.
A fresh start doesn’t always mean a completely clean slate. In Columbus’ case, it means a renewed drive to become the first football team in school history to win a state title.
“It’s motivation,” said Henderson, a four-star wide receiver who has received interest from top programs like Alabama and Clemson. “When you’re down and feeling tired, we think about that last play, that last drive in the game. But it’s not really something you try to forget about. It’s motivation. It keeps us moving forward. It keeps us pushing to get back there.”
