North Cobb Christian Wins Defensive "Battle" for 14-6 Win Over Columbia

Time and time again, you’ll hear almost every coach, in any sport and at any level that defense wins games and that could not have been any more the case on Friday night as the North Cobb Christian Eagles hosted the Columbia Eagles in the opening round of the Georgia High School Association Class 2A state championship tournament. As expected between a No. 2 seed, North Cobb Christian, and a No. 3 seed, Columbia, the two teams battle their way through a scoreless first quarter, as each team looked to establish their run game early on.

While both teams had some positive run plays during the opening period of play, the defenses of the two Eagles foes, would have the stronger presence as they both forced empty possessions. It would not be until the second quarter that North Cobb Christian would put together the first offensive drive that would result in a touchdown as Jacob Cruz would get the ball on a reverse and outracing the Columbia defense to get into the end zone and would go on to take a 7-0 lead, which they would have at the half.

The third quarter would see both teams stepping up defensively once again as the period would go scoreless, but in the fourth quarter, an interesting sequence would lead to the game’s next score. After driving deep into Columbia territory, North Cobb Christian would be forced to attempt a field goal and the Columbia defense would block the attempt. However, as Columbia tried to advance the ball which they recovered just outside the goal line, they would fumble the ball in the end zone, whicj North Cobb Christian would recover.

With no official signal from the officials, it was unclear as to whether or not North Cobb Christian would be awarded a touchdown. Soon after an initial conference by the officials, the ruling would be that Columbia would maintain possession, however, North Cobb Christian head coach, Matt Jones, pleaded his case and after a second meeting by officials, the ruling would be reversed and North Cobb Christian would be awarded the touchdown and would take a 14-0 lead with just over six minutes to go in the game.

Columbia would quickly score on the ensuing possession and after failing on the extra point attempt, trailed 14-6, however, time would not work in favor of Columbia as they would fall by the same score. “It was a battle. They were trying to run the ball, we were trying to run the ball back and forth and it was a very physical game,” Jones said of his team and their efforts to establish their run game following the North Cobb Christian win. Jones would also praise his offensive line and their role in helping them in the ground game. “Really proud of our offensive line for their work,” Jones added.

Jones also spoke highly of how well the North Cobb Christian defense played as they held Columbia scoreless for three and a half quarters. “Beyond proud,” Jones said with joy. “We want to be a defense first school and our defense rises to the occasion every week and really comes up with a great plan, but then we just fly around and like to hit people, so really excited about that,” Jones said of the Eagles’ defensive play against Columbia. With the Win, North Cobb Christian will move on the second round and face Rockmart on the road.