Football Game Preview: Columbia Roughnecks vs. Wharton Tigers

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Previous Games

09/27/24 - Home	28-24 W
10/06/23 - Home	55-0 W
10/07/22 - Away	66-30 W
09/03/21 - Home	56-6 W
09/04/20 - Neutral	52-7 W
+ 3 more games

Columbia has gone 7-1 against Wharton recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Roughnecks will head out to face off against the Tigers at 7:00 p.m. The contest will give Columbia their first taste of in-conference action this season.

Columbia blew Yoakum out of the water the last time the pair played, but on Friday Yoakum got their revenge. The Roughnecks fell just short of the Bulldogs by a score of 23-21. The Roughnecks have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Columbia might have lost, but man, Logan Lewis was a machine: he picked up 136 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Lewis' longest reception was for an incredible 84 yards. Another player making a difference was Cade Thoe, who threw for 105 yards and a pair of TDs on only nine passes.

Meanwhile, Wharton waltzed into their game on Friday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They claimed a resounding 45-9 victory over the Bobcats. The Tigers pushed the score to 31-9 by the end of the third, a deficit the Bobcats had little chance of recovering from.

Columbia better keep an eye on Brandon Sims Jr. He was instrumental in Wharton's win, rushing for 230 yards and three scores while picking up 11.0 yards per carry. With that strong performance, Sims Jr is now averaging an impressive 107.8 rushing yards per game. Wharton also got a significant boost from Ja'Keon Jackson, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 92 yards.

Wharton was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 431 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since the start of last season.

Wharton's win bumped their record up to 3-1. As for Columbia, their loss dropped their record down to 1-3.

Columbia didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Wharton when the teams last played back in September of 2024, but they still walked away with a 28-24 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Jackson, who threw for 259 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 84 yards and one TD. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will the Roughnecks still be able to contain Jackson? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.