Warriors solid in first scrimmage
MTenney@CalhounTimes.com
The Gordon Central High School football team had a very good first scrimmage.
True, the Warriors struggled to move the football at times in their workout Friday night against Coahulla Creek, but defensively they kept the Colts in check other than one scoring drive just before the end of the first half.
“I thought we did some things well,” said Gordon Central head coach T.J. Hamilton. “I thought defensively we flew around. We were aggressive. We were physical. We swarmed to the football. We gang tackled very well. We had an interception and a fumble recovery. We got some three-and-outs and those are the type of positive things that we definitely feel like we can build on.”
During the regular season, the interception he was referring to may very well have resulted in a Warrior touchdown as the play was blown dead by the referees the moment cornerback Brison McGinnis picked off the pass. He was called down inside the Coahulla Creek 20, but looked like he had a clear path to the end zone and might have scored had the ref not tweeted his whistle.
“Those are the kind of plays that can really lift up a team,” Hamilton said of his defense forcing miscues. “I’m not so sure he doesn’t run that in for a touchdown, but in a scrimmage, the ball just comes back to the 25. But it was a big play for us and I think it tells the kids what we’re capable of defensively. We just have to keep fighting and working hard to keep trying to force the other team into making mistakes. “
The fumble recovery came early in the second quarter on the Colts first possession of that period. After a Warrior punt, the Creek took over for the fifth time at its own 25.
The visitors busted off a 9-yard run on first down but on second and short, a couple of Warrior defensive linemen burst into the Coahulla Creek backfield, forcing the loose ball and in the scramble, linebacker Matthew Hammock came away with the football.
In the regular season, the Warriors would have taken over at the CC 34, but in a scrimmage, the Creek retained possession
WARRIORS,
the extra point kick.
The Calhoun defense, which Stephenson said also had a good night, forced a threeand-out and the offense again took over, under the format of the scrimmage, at their own 25-yard line.
Moments later, they rang the cash register with another 70-yard touchdown pass as Lewis this time connected with senior wide receiver Cole Speer to put Calhoun up by two scores.
The CHS defense continued getting the football back to the offense very quickly, forcing three more Bruin punts in the first quarter alone. And the Yellow Jacket offense would respond by putting the ball in the end zone all three times.
After showing how quickly they can score through the air, Calhoun showed how fast they can score on the ground with two long touchdown runs of over 60 yards by two different backs on their next two possessions.
First, senior Gage Leonard rolled through the Northwest Whitfield defense for a touchdown and then sophomore Caden Williams broke loose for his team’s fourth trip to the end zone in just a matter of minutes.
Calhoun’s fifth touchdown of the quarter came on Lewis’s third touchdown throw of the period when he found Dustin Kernes on a mid-range pass.
“We’ve got some explosive playmakers and they were making plays and so we feel very good about that going forward,” Stephenson said. “We feel like there were a lot of positives that we can build off of. We feel like we’ve had a good couple of weeks of practice to start and so right now it’s just a matter of us continuing to prepare for the season.
We’ve got a lot of football ahead of us and we got a lot of tough teams in front of us, so we just want to continue to prepare for that.”
The Jackets scored a sixth touchdown when sophomore quarterback Tre Townsend threw a scoring pass to wide receiver Kaleb Ray, who also played strong safety on defense.
Linebacker Christopher Lewis and defensive back Rex Walraven were cited by coach Stephenson for their work as Lewis was in Northwest Whitfield’s backfield several times in the first quarter alone while Walraven had an interception.
The home team did score a pair of touchdowns to finish with 13 points.
“It was a good first step for us,” Stephenson said. “We got to look at all of our players. We had a lot of guys making plays and that’s what you’re looking for right now is guys to make plays. So it was a good first step for us.”
Calhoun will open the regular season a week from Friday night at home against Dalton, which they defeated 41-14 to start last season.