Scoop27
11-01-2014, 10:36 AM
By JOSHUA COOK joshua.cook@thefacts.com
BAY CITY — Before the 2014 football season began, Columbia Roughneck senior safety Brandon Harris said the game he was most looking forward to was Friday’s contest at Bay City.
As it turns out, the senior had quite a show planned for Halloween night, as he picked off two passes on his way to anchoring a Columbia defense that surrendered just 236 yards on the night in a 57-7 win over the Blackcats.
“I knew our team was going to be strong enough to beat them,” Harris said.
But Harris’ efforts were not the only reason the unbeaten Roughnecks (4-0, 9-0) rolled to victory.
Dakarius Bell, Columbia’s bruising tailback, plowed through the Bay City defense for 161 yards on 13 carries, including six runs of more than 10 yards. Bell, who entered the game as District 12-4A’s leading rusher, pushed his season total to an even 1,500 yards on the ground.
“I thought we were able to run the ball well, and those big guys up front did a great job,” Columbia coach Randy Lynch said, giving well-deserved praise to the offensive line.
With Harris taking the ball away from the Blackcats (0-4, 0-9) and Bell plowing through them, there was little Bay City could do to avoid defeat.
After the Blackcats took an early lead, 7-0, Bell and the Roughnecks donned their hard hats and went to work.
Bell broke off scoring runs of 8 and 6 yards in the second quarter, and also converted a two-point try to put Columbia in front for good.
Fellow running back Maleek Goins ripped off a 24-yard scoring scamper in the final minute of the first half to extend Columbia’s lead and put Bay City in a two-score hole at the break, 22-7. Goins finished the night with 63 rushing yards on nine attempts.
“They (the Blackcats) came out ready to play, and we responded well — our defense finally settled down and played great football.”
The second half was just more of the same for the Roughnecks, as they overpowered Bay City on both sides of the ball, stretching their lead one score at a time until the final whistle brought an end to the one-sided affair.
Between the final two periods, Columbia found its way into the end zone on three straight drives — a 4-yard run by Bell, a 7-yard scamper by Jarius Kesee and a 39-yard scoring strike from Kesee to Richard Hooper. The scoring toss was Kesee’s lone completion in the contest.
Columbia’s scoring plays were only broken up by three Blackcat turnovers — a fourth-down sack by Michael French, a fumble recovery by Kade Finley and an interception by Goins.
Junior tailback Zedrick White added a 15-yard touchdown run in the closing minutes to put Columbia at the 50-point barrier.
The Roughneck special teams blocked a punt in the waning moments that was scooped up by Jose Ordonez, which set up Eugene Sims for a 15-yard score just before the final whistle.
Senior Roughneck kicker Jacob Comer made good on all seven of his extra-point attempts in the contest.
The Blackcats controlled the game for most of the first quarter, eating up a lot of clock while marching 63 yards in just nine plays on their way to notching the first score of the contest on a 1-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Zavien Gartica.
While the Bay City signal-caller finished the night with 77 passing yards and another 70 on the ground, it was not enough to overcome the Roughnecks.
Bay City running back Samuel Fisher toted the rock 16 times for 60 yards in the contest to help the team’s rushing attack.
Both teams will wrap up their regular season schedules Friday, as Columbia goes for a perfect season in a home game against El Campo, which will also decide the district championship.
The Blackcats end their season Friday on the road against Needville.
BAY CITY — Before the 2014 football season began, Columbia Roughneck senior safety Brandon Harris said the game he was most looking forward to was Friday’s contest at Bay City.
As it turns out, the senior had quite a show planned for Halloween night, as he picked off two passes on his way to anchoring a Columbia defense that surrendered just 236 yards on the night in a 57-7 win over the Blackcats.
“I knew our team was going to be strong enough to beat them,” Harris said.
But Harris’ efforts were not the only reason the unbeaten Roughnecks (4-0, 9-0) rolled to victory.
Dakarius Bell, Columbia’s bruising tailback, plowed through the Bay City defense for 161 yards on 13 carries, including six runs of more than 10 yards. Bell, who entered the game as District 12-4A’s leading rusher, pushed his season total to an even 1,500 yards on the ground.
“I thought we were able to run the ball well, and those big guys up front did a great job,” Columbia coach Randy Lynch said, giving well-deserved praise to the offensive line.
With Harris taking the ball away from the Blackcats (0-4, 0-9) and Bell plowing through them, there was little Bay City could do to avoid defeat.
After the Blackcats took an early lead, 7-0, Bell and the Roughnecks donned their hard hats and went to work.
Bell broke off scoring runs of 8 and 6 yards in the second quarter, and also converted a two-point try to put Columbia in front for good.
Fellow running back Maleek Goins ripped off a 24-yard scoring scamper in the final minute of the first half to extend Columbia’s lead and put Bay City in a two-score hole at the break, 22-7. Goins finished the night with 63 rushing yards on nine attempts.
“They (the Blackcats) came out ready to play, and we responded well — our defense finally settled down and played great football.”
The second half was just more of the same for the Roughnecks, as they overpowered Bay City on both sides of the ball, stretching their lead one score at a time until the final whistle brought an end to the one-sided affair.
Between the final two periods, Columbia found its way into the end zone on three straight drives — a 4-yard run by Bell, a 7-yard scamper by Jarius Kesee and a 39-yard scoring strike from Kesee to Richard Hooper. The scoring toss was Kesee’s lone completion in the contest.
Columbia’s scoring plays were only broken up by three Blackcat turnovers — a fourth-down sack by Michael French, a fumble recovery by Kade Finley and an interception by Goins.
Junior tailback Zedrick White added a 15-yard touchdown run in the closing minutes to put Columbia at the 50-point barrier.
The Roughneck special teams blocked a punt in the waning moments that was scooped up by Jose Ordonez, which set up Eugene Sims for a 15-yard score just before the final whistle.
Senior Roughneck kicker Jacob Comer made good on all seven of his extra-point attempts in the contest.
The Blackcats controlled the game for most of the first quarter, eating up a lot of clock while marching 63 yards in just nine plays on their way to notching the first score of the contest on a 1-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Zavien Gartica.
While the Bay City signal-caller finished the night with 77 passing yards and another 70 on the ground, it was not enough to overcome the Roughnecks.
Bay City running back Samuel Fisher toted the rock 16 times for 60 yards in the contest to help the team’s rushing attack.
Both teams will wrap up their regular season schedules Friday, as Columbia goes for a perfect season in a home game against El Campo, which will also decide the district championship.
The Blackcats end their season Friday on the road against Needville.