Calhoun players focused on one more
It was minutes after the Calhoun High School football team had finished off Region 7 mate Blessed Trinity, 24-7, last Friday night to set up a date in this Saturday’s GHSA 5A state championship game against defending state champion Warner Robins.
Friends and family of not only just about every player and coach, but the program itself, was on the artificial field turf at Hal Lamb Field, with hugs and congratulations coming from everywhere.
People were posing for pictures. Bright, victorious smiles were on every one’s faces.
But in the midst of the huge victory party smack dab in the middle of Phil Reeve Stadium, Calhoun players were sure of one thing — there’s still unfinished business.
“We still need one more win,” Calhoun junior linebacker Nathan Fuller said.
“We got to get one more and that’s what we’re working for,” Calhoun senior quarterback Christian Lewis said.
“It’s all about winning one more time,” echoed senior kicker Sergio Sanchez.
So the theme is this is fun. This is the time of their lives as football players. But hold off on that ultimate celebration for now because they haven’t got that ultimate victory yet.
“That’s the great thing about this group,” Calhoun head football coach Clay Stephenson. “They don’t get too high and they don’t get too low. Whether we’ve won big or it’s been close or we’ve lost, they’ve come in every Monday, ready to work, start fresh, and get ready for whoever our opponent is that week.
“They haven’t looked ahead. They don’t look back. During this run we’re on, they’ve come in every Monday ready to go to work. And that’s what they did (this week). When we got to work (this week), it was all about Warner Robins.
“But it’s a very even-keeled group and I don’t think there’s any question that’s helped us. We’ve fallen behind by two touchdowns in two of our four playoff games, but I didn’t sense anything but confidence that we would be able to come back. And we did. And I think these last two weeks, when we’ve gotten the lead, they’ve just stayed the course, kept fighting and never let up until it was over.
“So I feel very confident that mentally, we’ll be in a very good place Saturday afternoon. I know they’ll be nerves. That’s part of it. But I know we have a lot of seniors who have played a lot of football and I know they’ll step up and be the leaders they have been since we started working out this past summer.”
His players made it clear they are happy with what they’ve achieved, but they’re not satisfied.
“We hit our peak at just the right time and we’re playing our best right now,” Lewis said. “And you can’t ask for anything else. We’re super excited about getting to go to Atlanta. But we got to do all we can (this week) to be ready because we want one more (win).”
“We need one more and we’ve got to step it up to get it,” Fuller said. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing because it’s December and you’re only playing great teams if you’re still playing in December. So, it doesn’t matter what they do or what they
have, we’ve got to step it up. We want one more (win) and to get it, we’ve got to step it up.”
The game features a pair of potent offenses as Calhoun has put 529 points on the board in 14 games while the Demons have scored an amazing 678 points. The Yellow Jackets have given up 265 points this year, but just 14 the last two weeks. The Demons have surrendered 270 points this year and the most points they have given up were 34 points to Archer and Camden County in wins over both of those teams.
Warner Robins is led by senior quarterback Crison Lane and running backs Malcolm Brown and JaFredrick Perry.
Lane has thrown for 2,381 yards in 14 games and is completing 65 percent of his passes, hitting on 150-of-231 attempts with 29 touchdown throws and just four interceptions. He is averaging 170 yards passing per game.
Brown, who is a junior, and Perry, who is a senior, have combined for over 2,500 yards rushing this year and are the reason the Demons have averaged over 200 yards on the ground per game.
In 11 games, Brown leads the team with 1,332 yards on 199 carries for an average of just under seven yards per
rush. He has also ran for 17 touchdowns this year.
Perry, who plays wide receiver, has rushed for 1,208 yards on just over 100 carries and is averaging 11.2 yards per tote. And he has taken 22 of those handoffs to the house, making him the team’s leading scorer.
They also have a third back, junior Chaz Sturn, who has rushed for 584 yards and three touchdowns on just 53 carries.
The Demons have a solid senior wide receiver tandem with Daveon Walker having caught 60 passes for 1,154 yards or 19 yards per grab. On the other side, senior Deuce Petty has 31 receptions for 604 yards and he too is averaging just under 20 yards a catch. Walker has also scored 13 touchdowns and Petty has nine more.
And like Calhoun, they have depth in the receiving corps with another guy having 20 more catches this year while another has 16 so far.
Defensively, senior middle linebacker Jay Carter leads the team in tackles with 124 in 14 games. Perry, who also plays the safety position, is second with 104. Junior defensive tackle/end Chayce Smith has 79.
So on paper, it appears to be a clear battle of the titans. And the Yellow Jackets just eliminated a group of Titans last Friday night in the form
of Blessed Trinity.
And when that game was over last Friday night around 10 p.m., all the Calhoun players, coaches, and Jacket Nation knew exactly what they wanted (and still want) for Santa to put under their trees for an early present this Christmas season.
One more win.