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HOMECOMING WEEK
Fans flooded into the stands at Massey Field at Memorial Stadium to take in the pageantry of Columbus’ homecoming festivities, and the violence of two titans going head-to-head between the whistles.
The evening started with the announcement of Andreanna Shropshire and Will Fitzgerald as Columbus’ Homecoming Queen and King.
In medieval times whenever royalty was celebrated there was also a tournament that showcased a sort of controlled violence where two knights enter the arena, and only one leaves victorious. On Friday, Sept. 27, in Columbus, it was no different but there was more of an edge to this one because old foes came face-to-face for the first time in a while.
It did not take the teams long to reacquaint themselves with one another as Bellville’s defensive line made an immediate impact on the game.
Led by DJ Sanders the Bellville defensive line stuffed the Cardinals running game and brought constant pressure whenever Adam Schobel looked to pass. Schobel was constantly overwhelmed by Bellville’s rushers being forced to move out of the pocket and force a throw down the field.
Columbus’ offense looked like a shell of itself in the first quarter struggling to find first downs. Bellville’s defense came out swinging and when their offense got the ball in their hands they were ready to match that energy.
From the opening drive Bellville ran the ball extremely well. With the way they run their offense they have multiple different options to hand the ball to in the backfield and it presented a ton of challenges for the Cardinals defense.
The Cardinals moved their star pass-rusher, John Schobel, off the line and had him play in the middle linebacker position. Despite this strategic move, Bellville ran wild in the first half.
Bellville’s constant rushing attack was led by DD Murray and Corrian Hood who sliced through the Cardinals defense. Quarterback Ryan Broz also carried the rock a good amount on Friday, and they were able to drive all the way down to open the scoring.
After getting hit in the mouth on their opening drive and then getting scored on the Cardinals knew they had to respond. Adam Schobel and company took the field knowing they had to score a touchdown, or it was going to be a long night.
The Cards returned to form on their next drive and began to run the football more effectively. With that comes the passing game also seeing a good boost in their play and in the blink of an eye the Cardinals were inside the 10.
One handoff to Rigdon later and he evened up the score at 7-7. Both of these teams scoring drives chewed up all of the clock in the first quarter so onto the second.
The teams traded scores to keep things even on the scoreboard at 14-14. Bellville’s defense again came up big, shutting down the Cardinal and forcing a punt with a little under five minutes before half.
Murray once again found himself carrying the ball for Bellville and shortly after he barreled his way into the endzone to take a late 21-14 lead into halftime.
The Cards were down at halftime for the first time this season, but there was a calm throughout the stadium on the Columbus side. They knew their team was not dead yet and they came out and proved it with their defense stepping up and making a big play.
The Cards forced and recovered a fumble two minutes into the start of the second half and on the next play Schobel tied the game. He floated a ball deep and when it came down Braylon Fisher had his hands on it and the Cards had a touchdown.
The Cards’ defense was not done yet though as John Schobel came up with two tackles for loss on the next defensive drive forcing a punt. Rigdon then got in on the fun and with one cut at the line of scrimmage Rigdon sprinted to the endzone to take the lead 28-21.
Schobel continued to wreak havoc on the defensive side of the ball gifting the Cards another possession after a fourth down stop. He was rewarded by having his cousin Adam throw him the ball for a nine-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 34-21.
Bellville added one more score before the fourth quarter to give us a score of 34-28 heading into the final 12 minutes of play. Bellville tied the game up again, but the Columbus offense was buzzing and looked to put the nail in the coffin.
They drove all the way to down the field, where Adam Schobel decided to keep the ball himself and carry the ball into the endzone. Once again John Schobel made his presence felt on defense and stuffed Bellville one last time before Rigdon extended the lead to two scores with 1:30 left.
The Cards brought the house on defense and Bellville’s offense went nowhere to end the game with a Cardinal victory.
Both teams will be entering their district schedule next week as Bellville will be welcoming in Sealy and Columbus will hit the road to take on Rogers.
