Ridgeland struggles in Corky Kell loss to Calhoun
Hoping to get the 2019 season off to a good start, the Ridgeland Panthers headed south to Rome on Thursday to face off with the Calhoun Yellow Jackets in the Corky Kell Classic.
After losing to the Class 3A powerhouse in last year’s Corky Kell opener at Barron Stadium, Ridgeland was hoping to make amends in the rematch. The Calhoun defense, however, had other plans.
The Panthers were stymied on offense most of the evening and finished with just 129 total yards as the Jackets pulled way for a 38-8 victory in the season-opener for both teams.
Ridgeland had just 77 yards of offense through the first three quarters. They would pick up their final 52 yards in the fourth on their lone scoring drive of the game. Terrance Roberts would finally get the Panthers on the board following a 5-yard run with less than two minutes to go. Julian Brooks would find Braden Long in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion following a bobbled snap on the kick attempt.
However, that would be the lone bright spot all night for the Black-and-White.
Both teams had trouble getting any offense going in a scoreless first quarter. Ridgeland would move into Calhoun territory once with under four minutes to play in the opening stanza on a 28-yard run by Roberts. But a 5-yard loss was followed by back-to-back penalties and the Panthers would ultimately have to punt the ball away.
Calhoun would finally break the ice early in the second quarter. Following an interception by David Braden at the Ridgeland 23-yard line, quarterback Jake Morrow swung a lateral out to backup quarterback Jake Prather. Prather then stepped back and hit Ethan Crump in stride behind the Ridgeland defense for the score. Eduardo Fajardo would hit the first of five extra points to stake the Jackets to a 7-0 lead.
Following another Panther punt, the Jackets sped things up with a two-minute offense and drove 55 yards in eight plays before Morrow crashed in from the 1-yard line. Calhoun would get on the board one final time on the final play of the half on 24-yard field goal by Fajardo, set up by an interception from Grant Gilmer.
The big blow came early in the third quarter as tailback Jerrian Hames broke a tackle and got free for 53-yard touchdown run to cap an eightplay, 80-yard drive just 2:30 into the second half. Then, following yet another Ridgeland punt, Calhoun went 87 yards in 10 plays with Hames scoring from seven yards out to make it 31-0 with 3:40 left in the third.
The Jackets’ second team would get on the board less than two minutes into the fourth period on a 16-yard touchdown run by Christopher Lewis.
Roberts led the Panthers with 68 yards rushing on 11 attempts, but the rest of the night resulted in just 28 additional yards on 14 additional attempts by three other runners. Jordan Blackwell, who split time at quarterback and running back, was held to 22 yards rushing on 11 carries.
Quarterback Nathan Carver, who had missed the Panthers’ scrimmage with Ringgold due to a nagging injury, finally got in the game late in the first half, but showed some rust. He finished the night 7-of-16 for just 33 yards and was picked off three times. Six different receivers caught at least one pass for Ridgeland.
Roberts also had 7.5 tackles, including four for loss with two sacks on the evening, while twin brother Torrance Roberts made seven stops. Conner Middleton had one touchback and punted seven times for a 39-yard average. His longest punt of the night was 57 yards and he landed three punts inside Calhoun’s 20-yard line.
Hames had 177 yards on 19 rushes, gaining the majority of his yards in the second half. Morrow was 12-of-20 in the air for 116 yards.
Ridgeland (0-1) will have to regroup quickly as they are scheduled to travel to LaGrange this Friday night to face stateranked Troup.