Photo Courtesy of Columbus CSD Social Media

The Columbus Wildcat football team fell in the opening round of the Class A playoffs Friday at North Linn 59-14. The two teams had met during the regular season with the Lynx also getting the victory 54-7. In round two, North Linn jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter, then added 15 more in the second frame to enact the running clock before half. The Lynx led 41-0 after three. The Wildcat’s points all came in the fourth, while North Linn added 18 of their own. Columbus head coach Dave Lekwa joined the KCII Radio Coaches Corner Saturday, to talk about what he saw as the difference in the game. “Defensively, it was big plays. We got them to some third and longs, we forced them to make some plays and unfortunately, we weren’t able to stop some of them. We did have a couple of interceptions. On the offensive side, we took the opening kickoff, marched it down the field and attempted a field goal that just missed to the right. That drive was a good sign. We had a couple of different drives where we got across midfield, got down into decent territory and were unable to get points. It was a couple of missed opportunities. (We talked at half that) we need to continue to battle for these seniors. The boys did. They put a couple of touchdowns on the board. Trevor (Phillips) had a pretty efficient night when he had time he delivered good balls. He also had a rushing touchdown and Tyson Kaalberg had an excellent night.”

The Lynx won total yards 533 to 192 including 366 to 145 on the ground. North Linn took turnovers 3-2. They were led by a five touchdown, 292 all-purpose yard night from Will Sommerfelt. Tyson Kaalberg led the ground game for the Wildcats with 13 carries for 118 yards and a touchdown. Trevor Phillips added a rushing score and threw eight of 21 for 47 yards. Lamar Ceant caught four passes. Drew Totemeier led the defense with six tackles and Kason Dopler and Rey Resendez-Rodriguez each pulled in an interception. With the loss, Columbus finishes out the year at 3-6. North Linn moves to the second round with an 8-1 mark. The Wildcats say goodbye to 11 seniors including Sachiel Villagrana, Kason Dopler, Trevor Phillips, Alexander Rees, Angel Ineichen, Tyson Kaalberg, Elliot Wessley, Rey Resendez-Rodriguez, Wyatt Tompkins, Drew Totemeier and Gabe Zuniga.