Columbus football falls at Alburnett

ALBURNETT -- It was two 3-4 football teams meeting Friday but the Pirates had three district wins to two for Columbus. If the Wildcats could win by 13 points, Columbus could make the playoffs.

Alas, Columbus held Alburnett to 13 points on the scoreboard, all in the first half, but could only muster nine points, all in the second half.

The Class A District 5 win went to the home team 13-9 and Alburnett took the third seed while Columbus finished fifth in the district. Lisbon and Wapello were the top two teams. Highland was fourth. Columbus finishes with a record of 3-5, 2-4 in the district. Alburnett (4-4, 4-2) advances to play Wapsie Valley at Fairbank.

Each team rushed the ball 36 times but Columbus had Kaden Amigon. The Wildcats had 227 yards on the ground to 112 for the Pirates. Amigon had 171 on 23 carries and scored the only touchdown for Columbus when he broke loose for 62 yards.

Triston Miller had 46 yards on two kick returns, added 40 yards on seven carries for Columbus and caught a 23-yard pass from Jeff Hoback. Trenton Hoback gained 14 yards on four totes. Andrew Gonzalez caught the only other completion.

Miller led the defense with a fumble recovery and seven tackles, five solo. Cole Storm, Daniel Martinez, and Amigon recorded six tackles apiece. Martinez had six solos. Robert Coil recovered a fumble and had 3.5 tackles.

Yahir Ayala made a 32-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. It was his third successful field goal in four attempts this season.

Amigon finished the season with 1,185 yards on 149 carries, an average of 8.0 per rush.