WEST COLUMBIA — Dark storm clouds and heavy rain had no trouble finding their way to West Columbia Charter School’s football game Saturday afternoon. It was too bad the referees couldn’t make it.

Game officials never appeared at the Warriors weekend match against the Austin Christian Cougars, but that didn’t stop the teams from playing their six-man contest.

With parents and an assistant coach filling the roles as referees, the Austin area home schoolers pulled away from the Warriors in the second half to earn a 19-6 win.

“There was some good and some bad out there,” West Columbia Charter head coach Kenny Montgomery said. “I thought our defense had a fantastic game. But offensively we couldn’t move the ball. We made mistakes there that cost us. And the guys got tired. At the end of the game we weren’t running as hard as we should have been.”

Minutes before kickoff the skies opened and a deluge soaked the nondescript playing field alongside West Columbia Charter School. In minutes carefully laid chalk lines were washed away and the ground turned into a pile of mush. Rain continued throughout the contest, at times the drenching was severe.

Game officials, hand-picked from the sidelines, called the match barefoot in their shorts and T-shirts while white socks stuffed in pockets substituted for the normally yellow penalty flags.

The Warriors got on the scoreboard early on their first drive when footing was much more sure.

Julian Johnson broke free on West Columbia’s third play of the game and scampered 69 yards for a touchdown just 1:08 into the game. The extra point try failed, but the score gave West Columbia a quick 6-0 lead.

The Cougars responded on their first drive when Brain Nash scored on his run from 22 yards out. Austin’s extra point kick was low as the score remained 6-6 with 6:14 to play in the first quarter.

The Warriors made their way to the Austin 5-yard line after Johnson’s 23-yard run with 54 seconds left in the half. But West Columbia’s drive, and the half, ended on a fourth-down interception.

Both squads were unable to move the football much the rest of the way because of solid defensive play and a deteriorating and sloppy playing surface.

Austin broke the tie game when Nash scored again, this time on a 13-yard run with 4:28 to play in the third quarter. The extra-point run made it 13-6.

The Cougars put the game away on John Louis’ 1-yard touchdown run with 1:23 left in the contest that made it a 19-6 game.

The Warriors made one last attempt at the end zone. On their final drive quarterback Clayton Knight fired a pass over the middle that was tipped by a pair of defenders before West Columbia’s Blake Charanza grabbed the ball while on his knees for a 15-yard reception. But the Warriors’ last possession ended after failing to convert on fourth down.

West Columbia is 2-3 on the year — not too bad for a team that entered the year on a losing streak of over 20 games and had to forfeit its final five contests last season because there wasn’t enough players to field a team.

“We’re making the steps and building up something,” Montgomery said. “I think we’re heading in the right direction. Breaking that losing streak was a great thing for the kids and the school. And just to have enough guys to have a team, after last year, is a positive.”

Article taken from http://thefacts.com/story.lasso?ewcd=f10274c148bf9c2c.