In an all-KCII area football matchup on Friday night, the Columbus Wildcats got back to the .500 mark with a 49-27 road win over the Highland Huskies. Highland had the upper hand early, holding a 14-7 lead after the first frame, but from there the Wildcats exploded, outscoring Highland 42-13 the rest of the way including 35-0 combined in the second and third quarters. The Wildcats led 28-14 at half and put the game away with a pair of touchdowns in the third. On this week’s KCII Radio Coaches Corner, Columbus head coach Dave Lekwa talked about the keys for his team. “Jeff Hoback at quarterback was very efficient through the air and running the offense. He had a big 32 yard touchdown pass to Tucker Bright. That was part of six straight touchdowns for us. We had 316 rushing yards, much of that from Will Schwab. I can’t say enough about him. He finished at 7.3 yards per carry. Can’t get much better than that. He would be the first to tell you that he couldn’t do that without the guys up front. Robert Coil, Gabe Alcala, Logan Bright, Joey Zaehringer, and Bryan Miranda. Kaden Amigon had 107 yards on the ground. Our team defense was great also. Our guys up front were doing a good job. Mason Hodges had a couple of tackles for loss. Bryan Miranda and Gauge Storm, Donovan Avila, Luis Cruz, Jaden Miller, Robert Coil, Russell Coil. Some of those boys got really good snaps.”

Columbus outgained Highland 376 to 248 on the night including 316 to 233 on the ground. Will Schwab led the Wildcat ground game with 27 carries for 196 yards and three touchdowns. Kaden Amigon also got over the century mark, posting 107 yards on eight carries and two more touchdowns. Jeff Hoback completed two of four passes for 45 yards and another score, hooking up with Tucker Bright on a 32 yard touchdown. Amigon led the Wildcat defense with eight and a half tackles. Donovan Avila recovered a fumble for Columbus. Highland was paced by Owen Donovan with 23 carries for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Connor Grinstead added another score on the ground. Carson Netser led the Highland defense with seven and a half tackles. With the win, Columbus is now 2-2 as Highland falls to 0-3.