Middleburg Fl- After both drives stalled to start the game, both teams would overcome the muddy conditions to score in the first quarter. This would be a sign of things to come, as the team who prevailed would have to overcome the conditions and calamities in order to grind out a win Friday night.
First it was Columbia, who struck gold when Camdon Frier caught a touchdown pass from Xavier Collins for a 56-yard score. Collins, a freshman got another start for Columbia, and he’s shown great promise in his five games passing for 519-yards and six touchdowns coming into the contest. The touchdown put the Tigers up 6-0 after the unsuccessful PAT. The mud looked to have played a factor in the bad snap.
Middleburg would attempt to tie the game mid-way through the first quarter but Jerome Carter would grab his second intercetpion of the season, and in consecutive weeks for Columbia. The play would stall another Middleburg drive.
Middleburg’s defense would step up, forcing a punt on the next drive. The Broncos would capitalize on the conditions when Columbia bobbled a snap on the punt, and commenced to shank the kick out of bounds near mid-field.
Middleburg would take over and open it up. Jaydan Jenkins would be redeemed for the earlier interception by hooking up with Jarren Rosier for a long 50-yard touchdown to tie the score 6-6. Rosier has scored twice in consecutive weeks, and it’s his third touchdown reception of the season. The first quarter would end in a 6-6 tie.
The ugly play continued in the second quarter, when Columbia senior Markeyon Moore intercepted another Middleburg pass to help their fledgling offense out. Before this, Columbia’s offense struggled to move the ball.
However, the Tigers would benefit form the turnover by Moore, by scoring a touchdown. Xavier Collins tossed a touchdown to Marlin Haywood for a touchdown pass. It’s Haywood’s third of the season, as Columbia converted on a 2-point conversion to pull ahead of Middleburg 14-6 leading into halftime.
The turnover ridden game was plauged with fumbles, interceptions and missed opportunities. Before the half, Columbia fumbled away a scoring opportunity. In the second half, Middleburg would toss another intecerception, this time to Columbia senior Kani Fulton with made a great grab. This squandered another chance to score for Middleburg.
Columbia was no better, fumbling on a potential game ending drive late. Yet Middleburg wasn’t able to make moves withthe football on offense to bring the game any closer. In the end Columbia would add a field goal and take home their second straight victory 17-6.
Columbia improves to 3-4 on the season. They came in as the #10 team on the Duval Sports Power Rankings this week. They’ve navigated a brutal schedule, with very young talent. Yet they seem to be hitting a stretch of the schedule where they can build confidence and wins. They face a 1-5 Ridgeview team in two weeks. Middleburg had strung three wins together before falling to 3-4 on the season after this loss. They’ll look to get back to their winning ways against a 4-2 Bishop Kenny team next week.
