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Columbia quarterback Eriel Baker throws a pass under pressure against Suwannee on Thursday. (BRENT KUYKENDALL/Lake City Reporter)
For the second time in three nights, Suwannee and Columbia battled down to the wire.
And for the second time in three nights, it was the Bulldogs who made a few more plays for another big District 3-1A win over the Tigers.
Cherish Sutton tossed a touchdown to Tor’landria Ross on the final play of the first half and Suwannee held off one final drive from Columbia to come away with a 6-0 victory Thursday night at Tiger Stadium. The Bulldogs won despite Sutton throwing three interceptions, including two to Eriel Baker, mostly thanks to their defense that limited the Tigers to 105 yards of offense.
It continued a running theme this season for the Bulldogs (8-1), who haven’t allowed more than six points in any of their wins. That includes their 12-6 win over the Tigers (2-4) on Tuesday.
“They’re lights out,” Suwannee assistant coach Jacob Pitts said. “Defensively, I couldn’t ask for more. They showed up. Playmakers make plays and that’s what they did.”
While the Tigers struggled to move the ball for most of the night, they had a chance to tie it late when they drove down to the Suwannee 25-yard line in the game’s final minute. But Baker, who took every snap at quarterback for Columbia, slipped scrambling away from pressure provided by Kamiah Covett and fell at the 40-yard line with seven seconds remaining.
With only time left for one play, CHS head coach Anthony Perry called a hook and ladder but it never materialized. Baker completed a pass over the middle to Murphy Todd, but no one was there for her to pitch the ball to, and her flag was instead pulled with all zeroes on the clock.
It ended a tough night for Baker, who completed 10 of 21 passes for 66 yards. She also rushed for 37 yards on 11 carries.
“I thought we’d be focused but that turn out not to be the case tonight,” Perry said. “For some strange reason, even after losing to them earlier in the week, we didn’t seem to have our edge tonight and I don’t know why. And it showed up to bite us again. A lack of effort and a lack of focus is what I see right now. I know it’s a brand new sport but it’s work. You have to be prepared and I just don’t see it at this point.”
Sutton’s only completion of the game resulted in a touchdown as the clock ticked down in the first half. After getting intercepted by Baker twice on Columbia’s side of the field, including once in the end zone, Sutton tossed a short pass up the middle to Ross and Ross weaved past defenders to reach the end zone just before her flag was pulled.
Unlike two nights earlier when the Bulldogs were able to hit two long touchdown passes, the Tigers took away the deep ball and made them try and march their way down the field all game.
“We saw the two-high look and we saw they were doing their best to try and take away our big girls on the sides, so we figured why not throw it right up the middle?” Pitt said. “If they give it to you, we’re going to take it.”
Sutton finished 1-of-6 passing for 15 yards and was also intercepted by Jolena Gardner while splitting time at quarterback with Jessica Tran, who took most of the snaps Thursday. Tran connected on 6 of 10 passes for 56, with five of those going to Ana Pino for 46 yards.
The quarterback position has been a work in progress this season after star signal caller Maci Campbell graduated.
“It was one of those things where we’re a growing team, we’re a learning team,” Pitts said. “We had the region player of the year the last couple of years and anytime life after that is tough. But Jess is doing a great job. She managed the game and she’ll continue to grow. We played them two days ago, so they changed a lot of things. We beat them with two long passes over the top and they said we weren’t going to do that this time. So credit to them adjusting their scheme.
“We didn’t do ourselves any favors. We dropped three touchdowns in the first quarter, but all in all I’m proud of the girls. We’re 8-1 and you can’t really ask any more than that going into spring break.”
Perry’s thoughts on his team are vastly different heading into the week off. He says he’s considering changes to the roster, including bringing up JV players to spark the offense.
His defense did all it could to keep the Tigers in the game, including stopping Suwannee on 4th-and-goal from the 8-yard line with about three minutes to go in the game to give the offense a chance to either tie or win it late.
Columbia is now only averaging 6.4 points per game.
“Defense played ball, as they should,” Perry said. “Defense has been holding their own. The offense has to help out. They’ve got to put points on the board, but in order to do that we have to execute and our execution is not there because we’re not focused.”
Columbia is now off until a road matchup at Baker County on March 28, while Suwannee will return from break on March 25 at Chiles.