Photo Courtesy of Columbus School District Social Media

The Columbus Wildcats came up short to Danville 31-24 in their final regular-season game of the football season Friday night. Columbus rallied from a 10-0 halftime deficit behind three rushing touchdowns from senior Riley Kaalberg to lead 18-16 going into the fourth quarter.

But Danville would get the game tied at 24 and forced overtime, and while the Bears found the end zone in the extra session, the Wildcats fumbled the ball away and did not match the score.

Kaalberg would have four TDs and pile up a whopping 360 yards on 29 carries. Drew Totemeier led Columbus with 10 total tackles and fellow junior Kason Dopler added an interception for the defense, but they could not slow down Danville quarterback Jaden Bauer, who passed for over 400 yards.

The loss drops Columbus to 4-4. The Wildcats are still headed to the Class A playoffs, which will start with a trip to Maquoketa Valley this coming Friday.