Rebels fall in stunner at home

By By Robby Atkinson/staff writer
August 23, 2003
The defense of their MPSA Class A State Championship took a wrong turn for Heidelberg Academy Rebels on Friday night as Columbia Academy marched into unfriendly territory to take an impressive 20-7 win over the Rebels.
The Cougars avenged a 7-0 loss at the hands of Heidelberg last season and in the process collected over 300 yards in total offense. Surrounded by a very vocal team, Columbia Academy head coach Brad Duncan had many things to say about the first win on the season.
"We knew going into the game they were on of the best teams in the state year after year," Duncan said. "This is very big for our program and it is a step in the right direction."
The Cougars took the opening kick and started a small drive behind senior tailback Brain Speights, but Heidelberg forced a Cougar turnover. Brody Bustin recovered a fumble for the Rebels to put the ball at the Cougar 40 yard line to begin their first drive of the evening. Heidelberg didn't have much luck on offense as Tyler Blankenship took advantage of a errant pass by quarterback Brooks Lewis to record his first interception of the year.
After a short possession by the visiting Cougars, Heidelberg Academy once again turned the ball over by way of an interception. Johnny Spillman took credit for the interception and the Cougars were once again on the prowl.
Columbia Academy then went on a 12 play, 64-yard drive to put the first points on the board. The drive was capped off with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Phillip Reed to Blankenship to give the Cougars a 6-0 lead after a failed two-point conversion.
At the end of the first half the Rebels only totaled 35 yards of offense to leave head coach Tom Lewis scratching his head.
"They worked on us very well inside and their defense did a great job of stopping our offense," Lewis said. "There are several things that we need to improve on and our offense just didn't click tonight."
After the halftime break Heidelberg started a positive drive behind the legs of Chris Kittrell and Brody Bustin. Bustin put together 22 yards rushing in the opening possession of the third quarter, while Kittrell totaled 12 yards to bring the Rebels into Columbia territory. The drive stalled as Dewyane Ingram notched a sack to end the once promising Heidelberg drive. Columbia put their next points on the board behind a 67-yard touchdown run by junior Henry Sanders to extend the Cougar lead to 12-0 after another failed two-point attempt.
Columbia put the final touches on its first win of the season with a two-yard touchdown run by Speights with 7:08 remaining in the fourth quarter. Ingram, a 6-2, 300-pound defensive linemen, pounded in the two-point conversion to make the score 20-0.
The Rebels avoided the shutout with seconds remaining in the game with a 32-yard touchdown connection from Ian Sharp to Matthew Andrews to make the final score 20-7.
Heidelberg Academy will try to get back in the win column nest week as the Rebels pay a visit to Lamar. Columbia will square off against Prentiss Academy next week at home.