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Despite the best efforts of Spring Hill star Dontae Smith, Columbia Central beat the Raiders by a 31-21 score on Friday night in the Backyard Bowl.
Smith had a pair of long scoring runs, but also had a hand in a critical late fumble that helped the Lions beat their county rivals.
Columbia Central wide receiver T.J. Bailey scored a rushing touchdown to open the second-half scoring, giving the Lions a 14-0 lead with 10:57 left in the third quarter after the point-after was successful.
But Spring Hill finally got on the board when Smith took a handoff to the right size off a zone read and raced 58 yards down the right side of the field to cut the lead to seven after the point-after.
It was Smith’s 15th touchdown of the season.
But moments later, Smith fumbled a handoff from T.J. Ennis, and the Lions recovered for a 21-7 lead.
Ennis got redemption moments later when he hit tight end Blake Terrance for a scoring pass.
But a penalty moved the point-after back five yards, and Columbia Central’s Andrew Owens blocked it to keep the lead at 21-13.
But the Raiders punched back again when Smith dashed 70 yards off a pitch to the left side. Ennis’s 2-point conversion rush tied the game at 21 with 9:32 left in the game.
Again, the Lions answered with a Darien Davis quarterback keeper to re-take the lead at 28-21 with 7:21 remaining.
The Lions’ Andrew Owens iced the game with an 19-yard field goal with 1:48 remaining.
Columbia Central took a 7-0 lead on a 3-yard run by Davis with 7:28 left in the first quarter.
Smith had 124 rushing yards in the first half, and went over 1,000 yards rushing for the season in the first half. He also threw an interception on the last play of the half that Davis nearly ran back for a score.
Spring Hill travels to Maplewood next week.
