Columbia's football team got off to a hot start on Friday, Sept. 13 against visiting Pequea Valley. They started the contest with five first quarter touchdowns, and never looked back winning the Section Three football contest handily, 43-6, and snapping a two game skid.
Once again the attack was lead by quarterback Matt McCleary who threw for three first quarter scores, two of them to his favorite target, tight end Ryan Redding.
"They are best friends and you can really see that on game day," head coach Bud Kyle said of his dynamic duo.
The Tide took control early when Dung Ly almost took the opening kick to the house but instead went down at the ten-yard line to cap a 75-yard return. McCleary took advantage finding Redding over the middle to start the scoring, which they did often Friday night.
Demetrius Diaz was the next player to find the back of the end zone as he put Columbia up 14-0 on a 5-yard touchdown run. Later in the first quarter, off a muffed kick, McCleary threw a strike 32-yard strike to Keegin Zink.
McCleary and company were not done yet though as the he found Redding on 17 yard pass. This is still the first quarter.
Justin Elliot stepped up for the Tide in a huge fashion after losing their starting running back last week in a loss to Donegal. Elliott took a 22-yard run to the house to make it a 35-0 first quarter.
Elliott found the end zone again in the second quarter as he broke off a 50-yard rush for Columbia's final points on the night.
The defense played a spectacular game but finally broke in the fourth quarter allowing Pequea Valley to find the end zone on a seven-yard touchdown pass. It was the only score the defense surrendered all night.
McCleary ended his night going 12-of-15 for 168 yards and three touchdown passes. They also got a solid running game going behind Elliott who ran for 121 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns that Kyle wanted to emphasize and it showed. Earlier in the season it was not surprising to see McCleary having the most yards on the ground as well. Kyle hopes the running game carries into the rest of the season.
The Tide defense was stifling against the Braves, creating four takeaways through the air and sacking the quarterback three times. They allowed just seven first downs for a total of 86 yards. It was a dominating performance all around for the Tide who is now back at .500 on the year. Coach Kyle believes it was nice to play some reserves in the game and should be a good momentum builder in moving forward.
The team is 1-2 in the section and 2-2 overall on the year.
Coach Kyle notes that the boys have goals, and while he is not very vocal about them one has to think it is reaching the playoffs. He points out that the team knows they need to compete for all four quarters and get a few more wins to accomplish the goals they set at the beginning of the season.
VOLLEYBALL
The girls' volleyball team did not jump on the same wave as the football team as they dropped two matches last week to Cocalico and York Tech.
The girls faced Cocalico first, losing 25-12, 25-9, and 25-8.
Amanda Torres had nine digs for the Tide and Mercy Gonzalez contributed one kill, two service aces, and two assists in the loss. Malina Mowrer, Kamron Andrews and Morgan Bigler each added a kill on the night.
Next the girls faced York Tech in a nonleague battle. Things were looking bright as Columbia barely dropped the first set 25-22 and then took the second set 25-19 but ran out of gas down the stretch as York won the next two sets 25-13 and 25-12.
Gonzalez led the way with four service aces and 13 digs. Mowrer had three kills and Brynn Spiese contributed three assists.
On the year Gonzalez has seven kills, nine service aces, and three assists to go along with her 45 digs. Torres has two service aces and nine digs on the season while Bigler added three kills and three assists.
The girls are winless on the year but have more opportunities, with seven more games, to change that.
TENNIS
On the Tennis courts, Columbia is still looking for that first win as they dropped another pair last week, falling to Hanover and to Pequea Valley.
The match against Hanover came down to the wire in a hard-fought 3-2 battle.
Brooke Haldeman took care of business winning her match 4-6, 6-0 and then eventually taking the tiebreaker 11-9. She again did her job with Cleo Grove by her side winning their doubles matchup 8-2 to account for the Tide's two team points.
The ladies could not get anything going against Pequea Valley, dropping all seven matches.
Wednesday's match against Elco was another struggle as Columbia suffered its second straight shutout.
CROSS COUNTRY
Anthony Palmisaro, in a field of 51 runners, clocked an 18:47 and finished in 11th place at the Ben Blouser Invitational held at Big Spring on Sept. 14. He was the sixth junior to cross the finish line.
For the girls', Emily Gambler finished in 23rd place with a 23:36 and was the fifth freshman to place.
Cassidy Cook followed in 34th place with a time of 24:36 while freshman Mallory Conroy's 27:31 was good for 52nd place.
Last Tuesday at Donegal, Palmisaro once again was Columbia's top finisher, placing eighth in 20:10.
Gambler earned a 12th place finish with a 25:29 while Cook also finished in the top 15, placing 14th in 26:29.
Leave a Review