Mistakes lead to TC’s first loss

Sports Editor

dfeltner@advertiser-tribune.com

In addition to the usual suspects - blocking, tackling, execution - Columbian needed to play a near-perfect game to take down Fremont Ross.

It didn't.

Dropped passes, penalties (six in the first half), poor tackling, three turnovers and the inability to make a stop on third down prevented the Tornadoes from issuing a serious challenge to the Little Giants during a 28-6 loss at Frost-Kalnow Stadium.

The frustrating thing for coach Steve Gilbert was knowing had his team played mistake-free, this would have been a tight game.

"The bad thing was we had a great environment, we had a great crowd, everything was all set, and we go out and don't play very well," he said. "We just didn't play well. Dropped footballs, wrong steps, not filling gaps, it was just an accumulation of stuff. We had such a great situation, and we didn't capitalize on it. We gotta get better.

"(The Little Giants) were everything I thought they were. But we gave them a cheap, quick one."

The "cheap, quick one" came on the game's third play when quarterback Ethan Kagy appeared to connect with Derek Kneeskern for a first down, But the ball squirted through Kneeskern's hands and into Ross' Tylor Trautwein's at the 26.

The next play Cody Foos hit a wide-open Jordan Jones for a 26-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead a minute into the game.

The Tornadoes made a big push to tie the game with a 12-play drive, but mistakes crippled the effort.

Kagy hit tight end Kimp Patillo on a well-conceived, third-down pop pass, and Patillo got to the Little Giant 1. But Columbian was whistled for an illegal formation, then a hold the next play. The push ended with a whimper, a 48-yard field goal attempt that was short and wide.

Ross (3-0) answered with a killer drive, converting three third downs, including a third-and-16 when Foos again found Jones wide open for a 30-yard touchdown and a cosmic flip in momentum.

Little Giant coach Derek Kidwell praised Foos, his junior quarterback who connected on 12 of 16 for 172 yards and two scores.

"This is only his 13th game, but I thought this was his best game ever because he managed the game extremely well," he said. "He got us into a lot of good plays with our bubble screens and quick passing game, and he protected the ball. He's only had one or two passes all season where he was even close to getting picked off or even touched. He handles the game extremely well, and he's gonna get better as the year goes on."

The Tornadoes (2-1) briefly gained some momentum when Phil Chavez blocked a punt on Ross' first possession of the second half, landing Columbian at the Little Giant 20. Two plays later, Chavez wiggled in from the 4, but the extra point was wide right.

Ross, though, stared the adversity in the face and didn't quiver a bit.

Columbian's offense ran only six more plays until its final drive of the game that began with 2:28 left and the Little Giants leading 28-6.

Ross' third touchdown came on fourth-and-four from the Tornado 5 when it ran a reverse to highly recruited wideout Terence Davis. Chavez got a finger on Davis at the 7, but Davis avoided the tackle and won a race to the pylon.

The Little Giants' next drive ended with Foos sneaking in from the 1 on third-and-goal with a little shoving help from his backfield.

In all, Ross converted six third downs and two fourth downs.

"(Mistakes) accumulated," Gilbert said. "And it's frustrating, 'cause things are right there. The obvious thing is we asked too much of our defense. Our offense and special teams - we got the blocked kick, but our offense didn't carry their load tonight. They didn't perform. It put too much pressure on our defense, and that's not right. We've gotta finish drives. We can't have a misalignment and cost us a chance at the 1-yard line. And dropped passes. We had guys open, and that's the frustrating thing.

"We were too predictable on offense. Our offensive coaches have to do a better job of taking away our predictability. We're doing the same stuff over and over, and we gotta change it."