Columbus football starts early as it aims to win consecutive state titles for first time

Columbus has been one of the most consistent winning football programs in South Florida for some time.

But over the past four seasons, the Explorers have taken things up a notch, winning two state championships.

Attaining a level of consistency when it comes to winning those championships - similar to some of the national powerhouses that reside in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties - is the next step.

Columbus doesn’t want to waste a moment in its effort to get there.

Columbus and teams around Dade and Broward held their first official spring practices on Monday as they began roughly four weeks worth of sessions and a spring exhibition game in anticipation of the 2023 season.

Less than five months ago, Columbus senior quarterback Alberto Mendoza was celebrating in the end zone after catching a trick play his team dubbed the “Explorer Special” - reminiscent of the Nick Foles’ “Philly Special” in Super Bowl 52 - that secured the state title and a dramatic overtime win over Apopka.

Before the sun was even up yet on Monday, Mendoza and his Explorers’ teammates were on the practice field as their chase to win back-to-back football state titles for the first time in school history entered its next phase.

“The whole philosophy this offseason was not getting complacent because we won it all,” Mendoza said. “We want to go back and get it again (this year). That’s the biggest thing right now. We’re going to have a big target on our backs and we’re going to have to work that much harder to go back-to-back.”

The Explorers, who used to conduct preseason practices at midnight, are no strangers to starting early on day one. But this spring, they plan to begin the bulk of their practices before 6 a.m.

Their goal is to sustain one of the most successful periods of its program’s history when it comes to winning championships. After winning its first state crown in 2019, the Explorers won a Tri-County championship held in 2020 after they and numerous teams around the state opted not to participate in an abbreviated state playoff due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following a run to the state semifinals in 2021, Columbus secured the school’s second state title last year. The Explorers can become the eighth Dade school to win three or more state titles as they will likely enter as one of the favorites to win Class 4M.

Columbus is hoping it is the beginning of a sustained run that can put it on par with some of its Dade counterparts such as Miami Central, Miami Northwestern and Miami Booker T. Washington - all of which have won six or more state titles.

With over three months left before the season and plenty to assess, Columbus coach Dave Dunn, like many of his counterparts, isn’t letting his players dwell on that.

“We’ve preached to our guys that we haven’t won a thing,” Dunn said.

Dunn said Mendoza, a three-star prospect listed at 6-2, 185 pounds, greatly improved his arm strength in recent months and returns an offense that returns plenty of speed and skill at wide receiver led by Jose Leon and Darriel Harper.

Mendoza said he spent recent months training with his older brother, Fernando, the prior starter at Columbus and now a redshirt freshman at the University of California-Berkeley, and honing his instincts at the quarterback position.

For the Explorers’ offense to remain as potent as it was last season when it averaged 35.7 points per game, Dunn said they will need to find replacements for three starters on the offensive line as well as a playmaker in the backfield like former starter Sedrick Irvin Jr., now a freshman at Stanford.

Dunn said junior Agyeman Addae is the back with the most experience, but others could emerge. Senior left tackle Alex George and senior right guard Blake Brewer are the two returning starters up front.

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But on defense is where Columbus should have the talent to contend with any team in the state.

The Explorers added to an already stout defensive front that includes Louisville commit T.J. Capers and Dylan Stephenson - both top 50 recruits in the state - on the edges along with three-star tackle Daylen Russell. Linebacker Willis McGahee Jr., a Nebraska commit, transferred from Palmetto and is likely to play both there and up front in 3-man and 4-man formations. Stephenson is likely to play more at linebacker and tackle Robert Williams and junior linebacker Hector Chavez are also back. Capers, who suffered a knee injury during the postseason last year, isn’t full go yet to start the spring, but Dunn said he is improving.

Dunn said the secondary, where the team graduated senior Ahmere Foster, will likely be led by Jancent Wallace, Jeffrey Bandy, Jason Ibarra, Cameron Pineda and James Orange.

“I think spring will be a success if the development of our run game on offense comes along,” Dunn said. “Sedrick Irvin was an unbelievable back so if those guys can show they can develop at the level we want them to, that would be good. On defense, it’s how our guys adjust from the 3-man to the 4-man front, how they handle that transition.”