#HSFT19 Stop #60 — Columbus Falcons

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) — Josh Pulphus knows how to win.

The former West Point assistant takes over as head coach in Columbus, leading a football program in need of a championship mindset.

The Falcons are coming off a winless season in 2018, but Pulphus says you wouldn’t know it from how hard his team has worked in the offseason.

“The thing about life and football is, we seem to treat failure as a form of keeping you down,” Pulphus said, “these guys have embraced it. They’ve learned from the mistakes they’ve made this past year, and they are learning and happy about trying to move forward.”

“I’ve seen a lot of growth,” senior lineman Gerald Harris said.

“Last year we were down…I’m talking like…playing around in practice. This year, he ain’t going for that. He’s trying to make sure we’re better, get to where we want to be.”

Junior Ethan Conner will lead the offense for the Falcons this year, surrounded by plenty of young talent that experienced the tough times over the past two seasons.

Pulphus says it’s not a matter of if, but when, for Columbus to break out of its slump.

“You’ve got to have breaks. Football is a game about breaks,” Pulphus said.

“Going back to West Point last year, we played two games, we got two big breaks in the special teams. So Columbus, they’re waiting and they’re due for the chance to succeed and they’re just waiting on their big break.”

Columbus will experience a change of scenery, moving down to Class 5A in 2019, but it doesn’t get any easier

The Falcons will have to go through the likes of West Point and Lafayette in region 1-5A.

“West Point is still the king because they’re the reigning champs, but the old saying, they’re the champs until you knock them out,” the former Green Wave assistant Pulphus said, “and Lafayette was a strong number two. We got our hands full, but we can control what we can control. As long as we play hard and let the chips fall as they may, we’ll be alright.”

Columbus begins it’s season on the road Friday at Provine.