Brazosport Facts - Columbia-Stafford Preview Game Story
The Columbia Roughnecks, ranked No. 4 in Class 4A Region III, have another date with another top team in Stafford in District 12-4A Division I action today at Griggs Field.
Columbia (0-1, 3-2) and Stafford (1-0, 5-0) will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. as the Roughnecks enter game two in their district campaign against another juggernaut.
Late turnovers, seven total, cost the Roughnecks in the 42-28 loss to El Campo last week. Ironically, the Roughnecks only had seven turnovers in their first four games.
“Last week against El Campo, we gave them so many extra opportunities, and when you give great teams like that opportunities, they are going to beat you,” Columbia coach Brent Mascheck said. “Any mistakes will be compounded and that is what we learned last week. I thought our kids learned a lot from that and grew as a team, so I am expecting us to come out and play well and learn from that.”
Although the loss that could have been prevented, Mascheck is expecting his team to improve from those turnovers.
“Kids bounce back quicker than anybody and we have a rule around here, it is the 24-hour rule, win or lose we have 24 hours,” he said. “Saturday morning they are there at 9:30 and we watched some film and then our attention turned to Stafford right away. As coaches, we have to — Friday night my mind was going toward Stafford and of course we went back and looked at mistakes and how to correct them.”
Stafford has a potent rushing attack that has racked up 1,005 yards and a competent passing attack hauling in 821 passing yards. The Spartans average 365.2 yards per game.
Some of that offense is from senior running backs James Brown (47-490, 10.43 per carry, 4 TDs) and Cameron Montgomery (21-262, 12.48 per carry, 4 TDs), and quarterback Walter White (37-206, 5.57 per carry, 4 TDs).
White (44-for-71, 756 yards, 11 TDs, 2 INTs) comes in as the top passer in the district completing about 62 percent of his attempts.
Brown (10-113, 11.30 per catch, 2 TDs) and Hezekiah Jones (10-176, 17.60 per catch, 3 TDs) are a couple of White’s targets.
“Their running backs are fast and have a receiver who is a top recruit in the nation,” Mascheck said. “Their secondary also has a defensive back who is being highly recruited and we are going to have our hands full. But last week proved is that we can go toe to toe with anybody if we do the things we are suppose to do. For 3 1/2 quarters, we played the No. 8 team in the state but we have to eliminate the turnovers. We do that Friday night and our expectation is to win the football game.”
Columbia’s offense generated more than 350 yards against El Campo and average 327.8 per game.
Saylaion Dunlap (90-535, 5.94 per carry, 7 TDs) leads the district in rushing yards but backfield mate, Keithan Taylor (27-283, 10.48 per carry, 4 TDs) will be a game time decision after an injury sidelined him last week against the Ricebirds.
“This district top to bottom, has to be one of the toughest in the state,” Mascheck said.
“Stafford, in the polls that came out this week are No. 5 in the state. They deserve it, they are very athletic and have speed across the board. They won the state track meet last year and just have speed, speed and speed.”
This is the 13th meeting between the Roughnecks and Spartans with Columbia holding a 10-2 lead in the series.
