Two armed men were arrested at Columbia High School on Friday night just outside Tiger Stadium, causing the football game between Columbia and Buchholz to be postponed until tonight at Citizens Field at 7.
The incident happened right before the first quarter ended when two males, ages 18 and 17, jumped a fence behind the home side of the stadium. A deputy saw both men and immediately relayed it to other deputies, who detained the individuals. During that interaction, one of the individuals became combative but both men were ultimately arrested.
Sheriff Mark Hunter said one of the individuals had a firearm that was visible in his waistband. After a search, a firearm that was “well hidden” was found on the other man, Hunter said.
The arrests occurred right before a weather delay occurred, with fans coming out of the stands to find shelter and safety.
It’s the second straight year that an off the field incident marred the game between the two teams.
Last year at Citizens Field, players, coaches and fans scattered with 4:33 left in the game after they heard what they thought were gun shots nearby. A fight had broken out in the stands where police were forced to use a taser to break it up. No gunshots were actually fired and the game resumed shortly after.
Friday’s contest was originally delayed due to lightning when the first quarter ended with Buchholz leading 14-0. Weather cleared around 9 p.m. and the teams had planned to resume play, but Columbia head coach Brian Allen said Alachua County Schools Superintendent Shane Andrews wasn’t comfortable having Buchholz retake the field following the arrests whether it was on Friday or Saturday.
To compromise, Columbia agreed to move the teams’ season opener to tonight in Gainesville.
“The superintendent from Alachua Schools made the decision that they didn’t want the game played here,” Allen said. “We definitely wanted to make sure their coaches knew about the incident that occurred. Obviously they wanted to play as a staff and their AD did as well, but the call was over their head. They made the decision to not go tonight. For all the implications this game has later in the year with the rankings and how things go there, we have to play it. We’re not going to not play it, so that decision has been made and we’ll head over there (Saturday).”
Asked whether changing locations was a concern, Allen said he wanted the game played, even if it couldn’t be at Tiger Stadium.
“We have to play the game,” Allen said. “It’s early in the season and we’re all trying to get better at this point, so if we can’t do it here we’ve got to do it (there). It’s kind of a no-brainer for us on that end.”
Columbia fell behind 14-0 on the final play of the first quarter when Buchholz starting quarterback Trace Johnson threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Caylen Ferguson, who tip-toed the back of the end zone to stay in for the score.
The Bobcats scored on their previous possession as well thanks to a 23-yard touchdown run by tailback Quinton Cutler. That came one play after the Tigers were called for a personal foul penalty and two plays after D’Mari Bruce nearly intercepted a pass in the end zone, a play the refs called incomplete despite objections from Columbia’s coaches and players.
Columbia’s offense had two 3-and-outs following a promising opening drive where Buchholz ultimately came up with a fourth down stop. Quarterback Zack Paulk opened the contest with a 35-yard completion to receiver Zamarion Jones, who could have scored a touchdown if he hadn’t tripped over his own feet and fallen to the turf.
Paulk then found Marlin Jones for a 16-yard completion two plays later, but the Tigers failed to move the chains again. Facing 4th-and-12 from the Buchholz 30-yard line, Columbia opted to go for it but Paulk was sacked for a 9-yard loss.
Allen will now try and get his team ready for three quarters of football in a road environment with a double-digit deficit following a nearly 24-hour delay.
“You have to be able to improvise,” Allen said. “It’s a hostile environment that we’re dealing with and you have to improvise and that’s what we’ll do. I think that our kids are more than capable of adjusting. The same problems we’re going to have they’re going to have as well, so we’ll make the most of it. We’ll get them here and get them ready to play a ball game on a Saturday.”
Fans who purchased tickets will get in for free with their ticket tonight at Citizens Field.