By Marty Stamper/Special to The Star
DECATUR — Newton County’s hopes of an extended run in the Class 4A playoffs came to an abrupt end with a 21-14 loss to Columbia on Friday night.
Newton County finished 3-8, while Columbia improved to 8-4.
The Cougars lost their first five games before going 3-3 over their final six.
“My kids played their hearts out tonight,” said Newton County coach Jeff Breland. “It’s a shame it turned out the way it did because they played hard enough to win and they played well enough to win the game. It’s just a shame that it worked out that way.
“There’s no question we came a long way. One thing our guys didn’t do, they didn’t quit. For the last six weeks of the season, they’ve played hard and they’ve played well. I’m as proud as I can be of them.”
Neither team scored in the first quarter, although Newton County dodged a bullet after Darius Quinn recovered a fumble for the Wildcats at the Cougar 34. After being penalized for a block below the waist, Columbia ended up having to punt.
The Cougars put together an 83-yard scoring drive capped by a 2-yard run by A.J. Mapp with 10 minutes left in the second quarter. Jordan Walker’s extra point gave the Cougars a 7-0 lead.
After an exchange of punts, the Wildcats used a 36-yard pass from Derrick Bourne to Jaquaa Peters to pull even. Bourne found Peters behind the Cougar secondary to set up first-and-goal at the 9 and Bourne threw a 9-yard touchdown toss to Donovan Newton two plays later. Aaron Ellzey’s PAT tied the game at 7-7 with 3:19 left in the half.
The Cougars recovered the second half kickoff at the Columbia 25, but were penalized for hitting a Columbia player before the ball touched the ground, giving the Wildcats the ball at their 41. Mario Warren raced 40 yards on the next play and Bourne scored on a 15-yard run two plays later as Columbia took a 13-7 lead only 60 seconds into the second half. Ellzey’s PAT was wide right.
Twice the Cougars gambled on fourth down in the third quarter, coming up with no gain on fourth-and-2 at the Wildcat 43 and gaining nothing on a fake punt on fourth-and-5 at the Columbia 40.
Columbia saw an apparent 68-yard touchdown pass from Bourne to Peters negated by another blocking below the waist penalty.
The Cougars took full advantage, forcing a punt that Hakeem Wesley returned 40 yards to the 5. Three plays later, Diason Martin scored from a yard out.
Walker’s kick gave Newton County a 14-13 edge with 11:18 to play.
Columbia answered with a 62-yard scoring drive that was kept alive by a pair of Cougar penalties. A roughing the punter penalty gave the Wildcats new life at the Cougar 34 with 8:50 remaining and an offside penalty on fourth-and-2 at the 12 led to a 7-yard scoring run by Bourne with 5:45 to go. Bourne ran in a two-point conversion to extend the Wildcats’ lead to 21-14.
Starting from their 23, the Cougars reached the Columbia 23 before running out of downs. Wesley dashed 23 yards to the 41 on third-and-15, Jamoral Graham turned a screen pass from Trenton Evans into a 13-yard gain, and Wesley caught another Evans pass for a 12-yard pickup to the 26.
Facing fourth-and-10 from the 26 with just over a minute left, Evans’ pass to Wesley fell incomplete near the end zone with the Cougar sideline drawing a 15-yard penalty for protesting that Wesley was interfered with.
“I thought we had two critical calls, the one on the opening kickoff of the second half when they said it was interference and there’s no interference on that and then they go and score,” Breland said. “That’s been the situation all year long. It seems like something happens and then we give up a big play. But they blew the call.
“There at the end of the game, they about tackled our wide receiver and they didn’t call it.”
Columbia plays St. Stanislaus, a 49-21 winner against Quitman, in the second round.
