Football Game Preview: Wharton Tigers vs. Columbia Roughnecks

Wharton hasn't had much luck against Columbia recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Tigers will look to defend their home field against the Roughnecks at 7:00 p.m. Wharton knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 31 points or more in their past three contests -- so hopefully Columbia likes a good challenge.

Wharton is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Hempstead: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that the Tigers blew the Bobcats out of the water with a 45-9 final score. The game was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Tigers had established a 22-point advantage.

Brandon Sims Jr

Rushing Yards

09/19/25 vs Hempstead	230
09/13/25 @ Houston Math Science & Tech	76
09/05/25 @ Worthing	38
08/29/25 vs El Campo	87

Brandon Sims Jr produced another solid effort rushing for 230 yards and three TDs while picking up 11.0 yards per carry. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 107.8 rushing yards per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Javien Smith, who rushed for 85 yards and one touchdown.

They were just one part of a punishing run game: Wharton was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 431 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, Columbia didn't have quite enough to beat Yoakum on Friday and fell 23-21.

Wharton will have to contain Logan Lewis as he made an impact in Columbia's last game. He picked up 136 receiving yards and three scores. 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.

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

Wharton came up short against Columbia in their previous meeting back in September of 2024, falling 28-24. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Roughnecks' Mudassir Abdullah, who rushed for 242 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 11.0 yards per carry. Now that the Tigers know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.