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COLUMBUS – The rivalry between Columbus and Rice is a decades-long competition between teams that have had varying levels of success throughout its timeline. In the years of the old Eagle Lake High school and early years of Rice Consolidated, the Raiders took their opportunities and an advantage during their early matchups. Now in the modern era, the Cardinals have turned things around with a higher level of success as they have defeated Rice several seasons in a row during their annual game. Their most recent matchup was a continuation of the Cards’ advantage as Columbus secured a 56-7 victory over the Rice Raiders.
The Cardinals offense had an effective day at each level as they found success with big plays through the air as well as on the ground. They were able to break the top open on the Raider defense with some longshots down the field from quarterback Adam Schobel who finished the game with four touchdown passes and 192 passing yards. Jackson Hancock has quickly become Schobel’s top scoring target as he had another multi-touchdown reception performance with three TD catches in the game. Braylon Fisher brought in the other touchdown through the air for Columbus.
The rushing attack for Columbus also had a lot of success as they rushed for over 250 yards to put pressure on the Raiders’ defensive front. Ty’Vone Whitehead led all rushers with a big-time outing, picking up 144 yards on the ground with just nine carries. He broke out for three touchdowns with a 30-yard tote to the endzone marking his longest of the game. Carson Beettner also carried in a touchdown with a 25-yarder for his lone run of the night.
The Raiders’ passing attack had its moments of success in the game as two players combined for 186 total passing yards with their lone touchdown coming through the air. RJ Meyers did much of the damage through the air, completing 12 of his 19 pass attempts for 141 yards to lead the team. After going down with an injury, Kor’dae Johnson relieved Meyers and threw for 45 yards and led the team to their only touchdown. Both quarterbacks were fairly accurate as they combined for a 62 percent completion rate.
D’Neriyan Fuller and Jon Woods were some of the team’s top targets through the air as they brought down five catches each. Woods was the Raiders’ leading receiver, finishing with 59 receiving yards. Josiah Cobia finished with the next-highest total by bringing in 4 catches for 43 yards. Robert Bennett was the recipient of their lone touchdown catch on a 22-yard connection with Johnson.
Rice had a much more difficult night on the ground as the Cards’ defensive front gave the Raiders trouble. Dyren Johnson was the leading rusher with 36 yards on the ground. Fuller was the only other Raider to finish in the positives for rushing with a nine-yard run for his only attempt. The quarterbacks Meyers and Kor’dae each withstood some extreme pressure and were pushed out of the pocket on many of their pass attempts. While each player is a capable runner, they both finished in the negatives after taking several sacks and tackles for loss.
Rice’s special teams had an effective day as they had plenty of chances to return on kick-offs following Columbus scores. Roger Gradney averaged over 20 yards per return for a total of 127 return yards. Fuller returned two of his own for a total of 36 yards.
Defensively, each of these teams had a wide gulf in terms of performance. The Cards finished with 10 tackles for loss and took away 77 total yards from the Raider offense. Columbus also forced five fumbles and recovered two for the only turnovers of the game. Conversely, the Raiders failed to get much pressure on the quarterback and allowed a number of big plays on the long ball through the air.
After the game, Columbus’ record jumped to 3-0 while Rice suffered their first loss of the season and dropped to a 2-1 record. Both teams will prepare to finish their non-district schedule in the coming weeks as the Cards play three more non-district games while Rice has just one.
The Raiders return home on Sept. 15 to face off against Palacios for homecoming. The Cards will hit the road to take on North Forest before returning home for their own homecoming game against Hargrave on Sept. 22.
