Eagles clipped at home; Bulldogs fall on road
It was a rough Friday night for local high school football fans, with both the Columbia Eagles and Waterloo Bulldogs suffering conference losses.
Columbia was up 16-0 at home against Wesclin early in the third quarter before the Warriors rattled off 21 unanswered points to shock the Eagles, 21-16. The loss snapped a 31-game winning streak in Cahokia Conference play for Columbia (2-2).
Waterloo fell victim to big plays at Mascoutah in a Mississippi Valley Conference tilt, losing 31-19. The Bulldogs dropped to 1-3 with the loss.
At Columbia, a short field goal by Sam Horner and a 40-yard touchdown pass from Nic Horner to Mitch Daniels had the Eagles sitting pretty at 9-0 entering halftime despite the loss of leading rusher Colton Byrd to a knee injury on the first series.
The Eagles added to the lead right away in the third quarter with a 50-yard TD reception by Jordan Holmes.
Wesclin’s comeback began with a two-point safety following a bad snap by the Eagles, making it 16-2. The Warriors took the ensuing drive right down the field, wearing down Columbia’s defense with elusive run to score a touchdown that made it 16-9 after three quarters.
The Warriors continued their punishing style of offense in the final frame, capped off by a 10-yard TD run by Jamie Kattenbraker that made it 16-15 with seven minutes left.
Following another Columbia punt, Wesclin finally pulled ahead in front of a stunned Columbia crowd on a Gavin Bilbruck TD run at 1:32.
Columbia signal caller Nic Horner connected with Daniels for a thrilling 28-yard pass play in the final minute, but the next pass was intercepted by Wesclin’s Tyler Harbison inside the 10 yard line with less than 40 seconds to play, sealing the victory for the Warriors.
Waterloo falls at Mascoutah
The Bulldogs entered Mascoutah with confidence following last week’s win at Carbondale. But the Indians had other plans.
Mascoutah set the tone for the game right away with a 78-yard TD run to go up 7-0 at 11:42 of the first quarter.
Waterloo’s Dalton Viglasky answered at the end of the quarter with a short TD run.
Following a Mascoutah field goal, Waterloo’s Bryce Kirk scored on a 30-yard fumble recovery return to give the Bulldogs a brief 12-10 lead.
Mascoutah answered about one minute later with a 49-yard TD run to reclaim the lead at 17-12. Just seconds later, Mascoutah’s Malik Green intercepted a Graham Baker pass and returned it 20 yards for another score. The Indians led 24-12 at halftime.
Waterloo scored on an 18-yard pass play from Baker to Viglasky to make it a 24-19 game with more than 10 minutes remaining in the contest. But once again, Mascoutah answered with a short TD run to ice the game, 31-19.