Football Recap: Columbus Starts Season with Win at Home

Columbus gave their fans exactly what they wanted out of a home opener on Friday. They put the hurt on the Norfolk Panthers with a sharp 31-10 victory. For the Discoverers, this counts as revenge for the 35-28 win the Panthers walked away with the last time they faced one another back in August of 2024.

Michael Voichoskie

Rushing Yards (Career)

08/29/25 vs Norfolk	168
09/21/24 vs Fremont	140
08/30/24 @ Norfolk	137
09/13/24 @ Omaha South	108
10/04/24 @ Bryan	82

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Columbus to victory, but perhaps none more so than Michael Voichoskie, who rushed for 168 yards and two scores while picking up 9.3 yards per carry. Those 168 rushing yards gave Voichoskie a new career-high. Another rusher making a difference was Evvann Daniels, who rushed for 90 yards and one TD on only five carries.

Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Columbus proved: they limited Norfolk to a paltry 3.1 yards per carry. The team can thank Jaeston Delano for the heroic effort on defense: he. Columbus didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged 9.7.

Columbus didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Xavien Lopez-Long and Omar Rozikov.

Looking ahead, Columbus will square off against Omaha Westside at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 927 yards in their previous games. As for Norfolk, they will face off against Bellevue East at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.