GAINESVILLE, Fla. – 13 turnovers between both Columbia and Buchholz along with an epic comeback by Buchholz were just part of a wild and classic game for the ages at Citizens Field in which the home-standing Bobcats won 27-23.
THE INFO: It seemed pretty early on that Columbia was going to be in control of the game, especially once both teams exchanged punts to open up the game.
With just under four minutes off the clock, Columbia kicker Hunter Houston knocked in a 40-yard field goal to take an early 3-0 lead, which would be the start of 23 consecutive points scored by the Tigers.
As quickly as Buchholz got the ball back to start their second drive, Columbia’s Ronnie Collins intercepted the ball from 35 yards out taking it back for a touchdown to put Columbia up 7-0 with 7:31 left in the first quarter.
That first interception was the start of the madness of turnovers.
Buchholz then came out for a second straight drive which saw the ball get intercepted again by the Tigers which lead to a Dylan Blair 9 yard touchdown pass to put Columbia up 16-0 with 3:39 left in the first quarter.
The Bobcats ended up taking Camden Orth who had thrown the interceptions on the previous two plays put in Scott Lester in hopes to get things going. However, a quick three-and-out was the result of the drive with Lester in.
Columbia then got the ball back and marched down to towards the end zone, but then fumbled the ball away back to the Bobcats early in the second quarter.
However, as quickly Columbia gave the ball away, Buchholz gave it right back through an interception which then after Columbia made a big pass play gave it back to Buchholz again through another inception, all happening within just one minutes time with it still being early in the second quarter.
Columbia would intercept the ball two more times on Buchholz in the second quarter and scored on a 10-yard reception from Blair to Marquez Bell to take a 23-0 lead, which appeared that it would be the score going into the half. However, that wouldn’t be the case.
With just 13 seconds left on the clock after forcing Buchholz to punt in a quick three-and-out, Columbia proceeded in looking to find a way to get more points on the board. However, on the second pass play of the quick drive, Bobcats’ Luke Whittemore made the Tigers pay with a 90-yard interception touchdown return as the clock expired to cut the Tigers lead to 23-7 at the half.
In the second half, Buchholz intercepted two more Columbia passes thrown by Blair which the second lead to a Coby Weiss 35-yard field goal to cut Columbia’s lead to 23-10 with 6:02 left in the third quarter.
The craziness continued into the fourth quarter in which Weiss again hit another field goal, this time from 33-yards out to cut Columbia’s lead down to 23-13 with 11:17 left in the game.
That gave Buchholz, even more, hope for the comeback at that point.
On the very next Columbia drive, Bobcat defensive end Jaret Bruce made the Tigers pay again with another interception returned to the house from 55-yards out which drew the score to 23-20 with 9:42 left in the game.
With a chance to tie the game with 4:54 to go, Buchholz proceeded to attempt a 37-yard field goal from Weiss that apparently hooked wide left in the air sending some deflation to the home side of the field.
But the Bobcats refused to give up.
A quick defensive stand from Buchholz forced the Tigers into a three-and-out which in turn allowed Buchholz to put the final points on the board and that leads us into the Key Play of the Game.
KEY PLAY OF THE GAME: With just 3:02 left in the game, Buchholz knew a field goal would tie this up or a touchdown would likely win the game. Using about two minutes off the clock with some help on a pass interference call on Columbia, the Bobcats go down to the Columbia 10 yard line. That is when Camden Orth found Jared Graddy for the game winner as seen here:
Game winning TD for @BuchholzFB from Camden Orth to Jared Graddy from 10 ydss out to win 27-23 over Columbia #flhsfb pic.twitter.com/RBeoUDz259
— FloridaHSFootball.com (@FlaHSFootball) September 9, 2016
STAR OF THE GAME: Chris Rumph II was the biggest name on the defense all night as he made his presence known, especially in the second half, for the Bobcats. His sacks on the second to last possession for Columbia helped lead to the game-winning touchdown drive for the Bobcats.
DID YOU KNOW: 10 interceptions in one game appears to be one of the highest amounts ever seen in the state of Florida. However, it can’t be officially confirmed if that is the case as records on this kind of statistic is scarce as both Buddy Collings of the Orlando Sentinel and Florida high school football historian Richard Burton only had certain information in regards to games going back to the late-1960’s and early-1970’s
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WHAT’S NEXT: Buchholz (2-0) will host Orange Park Oakleaf next Friday night in their District 7A-3 opener at Citizens Field in Gainesville with a kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m. ET. Columbia (1-2) will return home for the first time this season in which they will host Jacksonville Robert E. Lee in their District 7A-2 opener with kickoff also slated for 7:30 p.m. ET
