Jackets dominate 2nd half to advance to Elite Eight
With the way the first half went on Friday night, some teams would’ve crumbled under the pressure of the moment and not been able to respond. But Calhoun clearly and emphatically showed that they are not one of those teams.
After the first two quarters which featured some untimely turnovers by the Jackets and several big plays by visiting Jackson, Calhoun trailed 20-14 in their Class AAA second-round matchup at The Reeve at the half. But the Jackets went into the locker room, picked themselves up and flat-out dominated the second half, reeling off 27 unanswered points to run away with a 41-20 victory and clinch a berth in the Elite Eight for the ninth straight season.
“I thought our kids played with a lot of heart and determination tonight because things didn’t go well for us the first half,” said Calhoun head coach Hal Lamb. “The difference in the first half was the turnovers. We can’t turn the ball over inside the 25-yard line twice, and if we don’t do that, I think it’s a different game. But you have to give them credit. Jackson is a good football team, and we knew that. They have lots of speed.
“Our kids settled in, read their keys and played well on both sides of the ball the second half. I was real pleased with the second half.”
Calhoun (10-2) advances to the next round where they will be at home again next Friday to host Cedar Grove, who defeated Jenkins in the second round.
The Jackets quickly asserted themselves to start the third quarter with their defense getting a quick stop to start it, and then Luke Jones caught a pass from Baylon Spector, bounced off a Jackson defender and went 63 yards for a touchdown to grab momentum and the lead at 21-20.
The Jackets then got a turnover of their own with a Ryan Randall interception on Jackson’s next drive, one of his two picks on the night. Calhoun extended their lead several plays later with Spector taking the handoff, rolling out and finding Malik Lawrence for a perfectly-executed halfback pass for 12 yards and touchdown to make it 28-20.
Calhoun kept up the defensive dominance with Randall’s second pick coming early in the fourth quarter near midfield that would set up a long scoring drive by the Jackets offense that would essentially seal the game. Spector once again came through to punch one in from five yards out with 5:25 to play to make it 34-20.
Spector, who was used at quarterback, running back and outside linebacker, had a huge night as he was a part of four Calhoun touchdowns, throwing for two and running for two. He rushed for 100 yards on 20 carries and was 5-for-6 passing for 137 yards.
“Baylon is a winner,” said Lamb. “We’ve got to put the ball in his hands somehow, whether it’s running back, wideout, quarterback. He makes plays when he has the ball. And then he’s so valuable to us on defense. But he couldn’t do it by himself. There were a lot of kids that stepped up tonight, and I’m really pleased with our football team.”
Calhoun put the icing on the cake in the closing minutes as linebacker Davis Allen intercepted a pass and ran it back 27 yards for a touchdown. with just over a minute to play.
The first half featured some back-and-forth action, including several big plays both ways. The Red Devils (8-4) took a lead on their first offensive possession after forcing a stop. Shaderious Crowder connected with Deontae Barlow on a 59-yard touchdown pass on third down to put his team on the board first.
Calhoun answered back, however, on the next drive as they punched one in from five yards out on a Randall touchdown run to tie things up as the senior put his stamp on the victory as well. The drive started with 49 yard run by Spector.
Jackson didn’t stay even long as they hooked up for another huge play for a touchdown, this time a 70-yard connection from Crowder to Antavius Greer on a screen pass on a third-and-17 play to pull back ahead at 14-7.
Calhoun scored again early in the second quarter when Spector plunged in from a yard out to even things. The Jackets then looked like they were going to take a lead as they drove into Jackson territory following a defensive stop. But the Devils Laderrick Johnson picked up a Calhoun fumble and sprinted 84 yards the other way for a touchdown. After the extra point was blocked, Jackson maintained their 20-14 lead into the half.
Crowder ended a Calhoun drive late in the half with an interception of a Gavin Gray pass in the end zone before the Red Devils ran out the remainder of the second-quarter clock.
Lamb said his team will now go back to work and get ready for another big test next week when they welcome Cedar Grove in the Elite Eight.
“Well, it’s another challenge,” said Lamb. “This time of year they’re all good, but the good thing about it is we’ll be at home. We’re playing Thanksgiving Week, which is always fun. It tells you that you have a really good football team if you’re playing on Thanksgiving. We’ll mend our football team, bring them in, get a plan and throw it out on the field on Friday night and see what happens.”