Columbia Central was playing its first game on the new artificial grass surface Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Dickson County’s Triston Brown tried to make it his turf.
After fielding the opening kickoff and returning it 90 yards for an immediate Cougar cushion, Brown went on to rush for two more touchdowns – putting his team on his back for a 27-17 road win.
“Last season, I was hurt. I didn’t get that chance to play against them,” the senior said, referring to Columbia Central’s 22-2 victory over the Cougars in 2024. “I told them if we come in and play as a team, we’re gonna come out here and we’re gonna dominate. And that’s what we did.”
Brown finished with 163 rushing yards on 36 carries, scoring from seven yards out in the second period to extend the lead to 13-0 and finishing off the night with a 1-yard plunge four minutes into the fourth quarter.
“Everybody on the team’s known since last winter that (Brown) was our workhorse,” Dickson County coach Jeff Tomlinson said. “He’s the guy that we’re going behind. We’re going to go as far as he goes.
“But you’ve got to give credit to those guys up front, too, because they played their tails off.”
Falling behind from the start, the Lions battled back, making it a 13-7 game on Zane Nash’s 9-yard run and maintaining the one-score deficit into intermission.
Central took a 14-13 lead coming out of the locker room, as junior quarterback Daniel Booker reached the end zone from 35 yards out.
But another special teams letdown led to a 99-yard Xavier Taylor kickoff return as Dickson County retook the lead – this time, for good.
“We’ve got to grow up, ya know? We’ve got to make plays. We’ve got to cover on kickoffs,” Columbia Central third-year coach Tra’Darius Goff said after the disappointing loss. “We’ve got to do what we’re supposed to do, and that’s part of football.
“We lost in the majority of the phases of the game, and if you do that, you’re gonna lose the game.”
Booker finished with more than 300 offensive yards, completing 22 of 32 passes for 211 yards and rushing for another 94 on 19 carries.
“Daniel is a heck of a player,” Goff said. “He plays hard. He’s been a leader for us this year. It’s just about getting out here and executing. If we don’t execute, it’s going to be a long, long night for us.”
With just six seniors on the roster, the Lions are largely young and growing – a fact not lost on Goff.
“This was our first time going to war together. I learned a lot about these guys,” he said. “They didn’t bog down. A lot of our starting guys started cramping up, so we had to throw in other guys as well. But it’s about improving each week, each day, Monday through Thursday, to prepare for Friday.”
In addition to the special teams breakdowns, Columbia Central racked up nearly 100 penalty yards along with multiple missed tackles and shaky blocking.
“I told the guys, this one’s on me. I could have done some things better as well,” Goff said. “It’s on me as a coach, because I’m the leader of this program.
“We’re gonna go back to the drawing board, and we’re gonna get to work.”
Dickson Co. 27, Columbia Central 17
D 6 7 6 8 – 27
C 0 7 10 0 – 17
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
D – Triston Brown 90 kickoff return (11:48), kick failedSecond Quarter
D – Brown 7 run (8:49), Dustin Navarro kick
C – Zane Nash 9 run (4:34), Elijah Raymar kick
Third Quarter
C – Daniel Booker 35 run (7:23), Raymar kick
D – Xavier Taylor 99 kickoff return (7:05), kick failed
C – Raymar 39 field goal (1:35)
Fourth Quarter
D – Brown 1 run (8:08), Brown run
Team Statistics
D C
First downs 8 16
Rushes-yards 44-192 29-123
Passing yards 22 211
Comps-Atts-Ints 2-2-0 22-33-1
Penalties-yards 9-57 16-85
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Dickson Co. – Triston Brown 36-163, Demarcus Strickland 3-18, Devyn Dugan 2-9, Aiden White 2-2, Quincey Blue 1-0
Columbia Central – Daniel Booker 19-94, Zane Nash 6-17, Jamari Brown 2-6, Ha’son Baugh 2-6
Passing
Dickson Co. – Demarcus Strickland 2-2-0, 22
Columbia Central – Daniel Booker 22-32-1, 211, Richard Powers 0-1-0, 0
Receiving
Dickson Co. – Zeke Daniel 1-17, Dustin Navarro 1-3
Columbia Central – Richard Powers 8-111, Camron Bridges 3-39, Jamari Brown 2-16, Ha’son Baugh 2-14, Dallas King 1-22, R.J. White 1-9
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