Columbus High School Falcons

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) — Columbus High is on the verge of something big.

Being around the Falcons at practice, you get the sense of Columbus beginning to turn the corner as a football program.

In the first year of the Randal Montgomery era at Columbus, the Falcons had many triumphs as they began to come together as a team and play as one.

This season, it’s about building on last year’s success and continuing to climb to the top, with one major difference from last year to this year.

“I think just understanding what the expectations are both on and off the field,” head coach Randal Montgomery said. “I think our guys have done a great job. We had a full spring practice under our belts with the entire coaching staff and now we’re in fall camp and the guys are taking what we’ve been teaching and really running with it.”

“We’re all together,” senior Cameron Williams said. “We play as a team, we act as a team. We play separately, offensively and defensively at practice, but when we go out on Friday’s we play as a team.”

Columbus hit their stride at the end of the 2015 season, going 3-1 in their last four and making a run at the final playoff spot in Region 2-6A.

This year, the Falcons join Region 1 and they know they will have to get out of the blocks quicker than last year to make that playoff run.

“We have to go out and compete and try to start the season strong this year,” senior Christopher Deloach said. “Last year, we didn’t start off strong but we finished very well and won 3 of the last 4 ball games. This year we have to come out and compete in our district.”

“These guys understand when they do the things they do well, we can compete,” Montgomery said. “Last year, there were games we competed well and then we did things we shouldn’t have done. If we come out and put the best foot forward, we can compete with any team.”

This year, the Falcons are loaded all across the field with a talented stable of junior running backs and a defensive front that will have speed and size.

But more so than last year, Columbus will have a new found confidence under Coach Montgomery as they have the belief they can play with anyone in the state.

“When we were down last year, a lot of guys gave up,” Deloach said. “This year, we can’t have that. Regardless of what the scoreboard says, we have to Columbus football, a hard fought physical game.”

“We have a lot of guys ready to play,” Williams said. “Last year, we had people worried we were going to go 4-7. This year, no one cares about that. They care about the first game and getting that first win.”

We will see the Falcons in action Friday night as they welcome Kemper County for the 2015 home opener.