The Royal Falcons pushed their score all the way to 32 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They were just a hair shy of victory and fell 33-32 to Columbia. Despite 67 more yards than Columbia, Royal couldn't convert that extra yardage to scores.
When it comes to explaining why Royal lost, one person who can't be blamed is Ashton Robinson. Despite the final result, he rushed for 89 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 204 yards and two touchdowns. Another player making a difference was Zakai Anderson, who rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Among those leading the charge was Blake Osteen, who rushed for 90 yards and two touchdowns on only ten carries.
This is the second loss in a row for Royal and nudges their season record down to 5-5. Sadly, the team can't blame their woes on tough opposition, as that stretch included 3-7 La Marque (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 40% over those games). As for Columbia, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 5-5 record this season.
Royal will face off against Hamshire-Fannett at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Hamshire-Fannett presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Royal in Texas (Hamshire-Fannett is ranked 127th, while Royal is ranked 520th). As for Columbia, they will take on Jasper at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Jasper knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past three contests -- so hopefully Columbia likes a good challenge.
