By DRUW GIAMALVA, Sports Editor
DOUGLAS — Despite a windy and rainy night at Arthur Jarvis Stadium, the Douglas Eagles kept their winning streak alive as they celebrated Homecoming with a 54-7 victory over the Columbia Eagles. With a 6-1 record, this is the best start to a season for the Eagles since 1982 when Douglas began the season 7-0 under head coach Paul McAbee.
“This is our best start since 1982 so it has been awhile,” said Douglas head coach Brandon Lyles. “I couldn’t be prouder of these kids. They have a warrior mentality. Sometimes you worry about stuff during Homecoming week but these kids stayed laser focused throughout the week. They came out and started fast and never took their foot off the gas.”
The Eagles winning streak extended to five games with the win over Columbia. Douglas also improved to 4-1 in Class 5A, Region 8 play with the win over the Eagles.
Douglas would begin the matchup on offense first. The offense would be fast paced as quarterback Baker Lyles began the game with a six-yard run. After a flag on Columbia that gave Douglas a free first down, Lyles would produce the first six points of the game thanks to a 49-yard dash to the end zone. After a no good 2-pt conversion attempt, Douglas would take a 6-0 lead over Columbia.
After a long Columbia drive that resulted in a punt thanks to a sack by Noah Williamson, the Eagles offense went straight back to work as they started their next drive with first down runs by Lyles, Keilan Green and Judson Murray. Green would take his turn to punch in a touchdown from 6-yards out to put Douglas ahead 14-0.
The Douglas defense would continue to shutdown Columbia as they forced a turnover on downs to the Eagles. With the ball in their hands, Douglas kept up the tempo as Lyles would toss a deep 39-yard pass to Williamson to put Douglas at the 2-yard line. Murray would score on the very next play to give Douglas a 20-0 lead over Columbia.
The Douglas defense would again step up as Lyles would pick off a Columbia pass to give Douglas the ball at the 36-yard line.
Lyles would continue to dominate the Columbia defense as he tossed a 33-yard touchdown pass to Murray to lift the Eagles ahead 28-0.
With limited time before halftime, Douglas would strike one final time with Williamson rushing in a 21-yard score to give Douglas a 33-0 halftime lead.
To start off the second half, it just took Douglas one play to score on their first possession of the third quarter with Lyles rushing in a 21-yard score to make it a 40-0 lead.
Lyles’ final touchdown play would come in the fourth quarter with an unbelievable fourth down toss to Casey Campbell for a 33-yard touchdown.
Douglas would seal the ballgame with a final touchdown run by Krish Patel to give themselves a 54-7 Homecoming victory over Columbia.
The schedule doesn’t get much easier for Douglas as they travel to face Fort Payne in a critical Region 8 matchup.
“Fort Payne is one of our biggest games of the year,” Lyles said. “Their history speaks for itself. They have a great football team. We just have to show up and be ready to play.”
Douglas quarterback Baker Lyles looks deep downfield during Friday’s matchup against Columbia. Lyles finished with four total touchdowns in the 54-7 Homecoming victory. DRUW GIAMALVA l The Leader
