Calhoun welcomes Douglass (Atlanta) to The Reeve to kick things off
Last Thursday was just the warm-up as Phil Reeve Stadium will be cranked up for real this Friday night when the Calhoun Yellow Jackets open the regular season with a non-region matchup against the Douglass (Atlanta) Astros.
The Jackets enter the season opener against the Astros coming off their preseason scrimmage last Thursday night, which they won over Northwest Whitfield 45-14. (Calhoun held a 17-14 lead at the half following the varsity playing the first two quarters before giving way to the younger players in the third and fourth.)
Calhoun coach Hal Lamb said he likes where his team is going into Friday’s game after a successful scrimmage.
“Our kids played hard,” said Lamb. “The technique was a little off, but that’s expected in a scrimmage. We watched the film, and it was a good teaching tool especially with as inexperience as we are. We’ve still got a lot of things to work on, but I really like the effort from these kids. That’s what you want to see as a coach.”
Calhoun quarterback Baylon Spector, who is going into his first season as the starter, had a good night in the scrimmage with 95 yards through the air on 6-of-11 passing with two touchdowns in a quarter and a half of work. He also ran for 43 yards. Running backs Olico Dennis and Zack Fuller combined to run for over 100 yards as well as they split time in the backfield during the varsity portion of the scrimmage.
Douglass will head to Calhoun for the first-ever meeting between the two teams. The Astros went 6-4 last season while playing in Region 4-AA. They moved down to Region 6-AA as part of GHSA reclassification. Lamb said they will be a difficult test for his team to open the season.
“They’re very athletic,” said Lamb. “They’ve got some good size and speed. They run the ball mainly, but they also can throw it. They’re really big up front on both sides of the ball with a couple 300-pounders, including a really good player at nose guard. They’ll come at you on defense very aggressively.
“It’s going to be brand new playing them because we haven’t seen them before. It’s definitely going to be a learning curve.”
The Jackets will have several players making their first regular-season starts after a large group of seniors were lost to graduation following the team’s run to the Class AAA Final Four last season. The offensive and defensive lines will be breaking in six new starters combined, and the linebacker group is another area where some new faces will be counted on to take the majority of the reps.
Lamb said the home-field advantage should help the new starters be a little more comfortable.
“It definitely helps being at home,” said Lamb. “They got a good taste of it last Thursday night so this game won’t be much different.”
Calhoun will be looking to win their eighth straight season opener on Friday. Lamb said forcing turnovers, which they had four of in the scrim- mage, will be a big key in their success.
“We’ve got to be solid on both sides and can’t turn the ball over,” said Lamb. “We’ve also got to force a few turnovers and be solid in the kicking game where we should have an advantage. Offensively, we’ve got to be balanced to keep them from being as aggressive as they usually are. Defensively, we’ve got to contain their speed.”
Prediction:
The Jackets head into the regular season with as many new starters as they’ve had in recent memory, but several of those have seen some varsity action and have the potential to be very good players.
The Astros come to town with a lot of speed and athleticism and will look to use that to pull an upset in one of the toughest venues to win in Northwest Georgia.
Calhoun has been tested before early in the season, and they should have the depth and coaching experience to get the job done.
Calhoun wins, 28-14.
Score: