By RICK SPRUNGER
COLUMBIA CITY — It was a wild, rainy Friday the 13th at Columbia City last night.
Norwell won it, 28-22, in a game that saw a little bit of everything. But that wasn’t decided until Cohen Bailey batted down a Columbia City pass in the left corner of the end zone as the clock turned to zeroes.
It was a play that left Columbia City just short of pulling off an improbable rally in the game’s final five minutes.
Norwell led, 28-15, and had the ball in Columbia City territory when a mishandled exchange of a wet football in the pouring rain suddenly gave Columbia City new life.
The Eagles immediately took full advantage of the gift, driving 65 yards in eight plays and scoring on a two-yard run by quarterback Grayson Bradberry that sliced his team’s deficit to six points with 3:10 remaining.
Then, with 0:41 left, Columbia City’s Noah McDevitt blocked a Norwell punt to set the Eagles up for one final drive with a chance to win from the Norwell 45.
Passes from Bradberry to Stratton Fuller for 20 and nine yards wrapped around an offsides penalty against the Knights got the Eagles to the Norwell 11 with 0:08 remaining and no timeouts left.
Bradberry fired a pass to an open Gavin Smith in the end zone on the first play, only to see a Norwell defender arrive just in time to get a hand in and break it up.
Bradberry then lofted a pass into the left corner of the end zone that Bailey knocked away to end it and give Norwell its second straight victory and Columbia City its fourth straight loss.
“I was really pleased with how we played defensively,” said Norwell coach Josh Gerber, noting that his team forced five turnovers, including two interceptions by Trace Moser. “We were also able to control the line of scrimmage,” he continued. Our goal is to be better every week and be a tough out in the tournament.”
But there were some other things that didn’t please him.
“Too many mistakes on special teams that we’ve got to get cleaned up,” he pointed out. “We can’t expect to get two kicks blocked and win too many games.”
The reference was not only to the blocked punt that jump-started Columbia City’s near-miss in the game’s final minute. A blocked field goal attempt by Austin DeLeon from 33 yards out in the second quarter that Fuller returned 80 yards for a touchdown put Norwell in a stunning 7-0 hole.
But if that appeared to be a momentum changer, Norwell seized it right back just 22 seconds later with a pair of lightning bolts back to back.
Bailey returned the ensuing kickoff all the way to the 50, and Trey Bodenheimer took it the rest of the way home on a counter on the very next play for the tie.
Two plays later, a Columbia City fumble gave the ball right back to Norwell, and the Knights smashed the ball right down the Eagles’ throats with a 55-yard, eight-play drive that was culminated by Timothy Bonjour’s 15-yard dash into the end zone.
Bonjour was a thorn in Columbia City’s side all night as he rushed for 203 yards and two touchdowns, including that one and a 31-yarder in the third quarter.
Moser followed that score with the first of his two interceptions, and the Knights rammed it in on a 61-yard, 11-play drive, with Bonjour carrying the ball on nine of those plays. That put Norwell on top, 28-15.
And with the Knights forcing a punt and getting interceptions from Moser and Bailey on Columbia City’s first three possessions of the fourth quarter, the latter with just 6:41 left on the clock, Norwell seemed to be in control.
But then came the mishandled exchange in the backfield and Columbia City’s last-ditch effort that kept fans from both teams parked under their umbrellas instead of heading for the exits.
For Columbia City, it was a game of missed opportunities.
The Eagles fumbled the ball away at the Norwell 4 in the first quarter and had two other touchdowns nullified by penalties on drives that ended with no points.
The Eagles won the statistical battle with 366 total yards to Norwell’s 302.
Bradberry finished with 199 yards in the air on 12-for-32 passing, including completions of 40 yards to Bradyn Elkins and 55 yards to Smith, both in the second quarter.
“That’s another thing we’ve got to clean up,” sighed Gerber. “We can’t be letting guys get behind us.”
Norwell finishes regular season play with a record of 3-6 and will open sectional play next week at home against Delta.
