Jackets fall to Warner Robins in 5A finals
Calhoun’s quest for its first-ever 5A state football championship ended Saturday evening in the rain when the Yellow Jackets fell to Warner Robins, 38-14, in the GHSA 5A state title game at waterlogged Center Parc Stadium on the campus of Georgia State in downtown Atlanta.
The victory gave the Demons, who were making their fifth consecutive appearance in the 5A state championship game, back-to-back state titles for the first time in school history and they have now won six overall.
For the Yellow Jackets, they fell behind by two touchdowns just six minutes into the game following a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes in the special teams, and could not seem to recover from the early blows.
Warner Robins junior running back Fred Perry sparked the Demons’ high-power offense, rushing for 233 yards and two touchdowns as the team from middle Georgia didn’t really pull away until the fourth quarter.
Calhoun took the ball to start the game, as they have done in the past three playoff games, but were forced to punt after picking up three yards on three plays.
But the backup punter, who was kicking because their normal punter has a cast on his hand, dropped the snap and the Demons took over at the Yellow Jacket 20. The punter also got his leg rolled in the scramble for the ball and limped off the field, never to return.
Despite two false start penalties that eventually moved them back to the Calhoun 25, the team from Region One needed just four plays to score on a direct snap running play from the fiveyard-line for a quick 6-0 lead with 9:02 to go in the first period. After the extra point,
they were in front, 7-0.
The Yellow Jackets began their next drive with quarterback Christian Lewis finding first senior Cole Speer and then senior Quin Smith on back-to-back 16-yard passes to move into Warner Robins territory.
They marched to the WR 26 before a large loss on a quarterback sack and then a penalty moved them back onto their own side of the field. Facing a fourth-and-23, Calhoun’s regular punter, with the cast, came on and he dropped the snap.
He was able to pick up the ball, but in trying to kick it, the ball was plucked out of the air and returned 40 yards for a touchdown, giving Warner a 14-0 lead with 5:59 still remaining in the first.
“You just can’t give a team like that anything and we gave them two,” Calhoun head football coach Clay Stephenson said. “We really dug ourselves a big holes with those two early mistakes. I thought for the most part, we played well offensively and defensively, we just hurt ourselves early with a couple of big mistakes early and it really cost us.”
Calhoun would get a touchdown too get back into the game, but a Warner Robins field goal and big pass play in the final minute of the second period put the representatives from Region 7 behind the eight ball at halftime.
After the teams traded punts with Calhoun freshman Andrew Purdy taking over those duties and handling the the snaps with no further problems, the Yellow Jackets got on the scoreboard on a Lewis 5-yard touchdown pass to Smith on the first play of the second quarter. Senior kicker Sergio Sanchez made the extra-point try and Calhoun was down just 14-7 with 11:55 showing until halftime.
The score finished off a 12play, 62-yard Yellow Jacket drive that took over five minutes. They converted a fourthand-three to keep things going on a Gage Leonard four-yard carry and senior Peyton Law caught a 17-yard pass to put them inside the Warner Robins 5-yard-line as the first quarter came to a conclusion.
They were also helped out by a Leonard 13-yard gain on a direct snap and a Warner Robins personal foul penalty on a late hit on Lewis.
The Demons looked like they would answer that score with a touchdown after a nice drive, but it was wiped out by a penalty and then Speer picked off a pass in the end zone to keep it a one-score game.
The Yellow Jackets then put together one of their best drives of the night, going from their 20 to the Demon 9, but they had to turn the
ball over on downs.
Warner Robins went right back to work, going the other way for what looked like another touchdown. But after running 17 plays and getting to the Yellow Jacket 18, they had to settle for a 35-yard field goal that gave them a 17-7 advantage with one minute exactly until halftime.
Calhoun then had a quick three-and-out series with three straight incomplete passes and the Demons got the ball back at their own 34 with 46 seconds left.
After a productive run and a productive pass play, they connected on a pass downfield between a pair of Calhoun defenders that ended up being a 51-yard touchdown connection with just six seconds left in the half. Daniel Beard’s third extrapoint kick off the half put them on top 24-7 at halftime.
“When we cut it too a onescore game, we felt like we could really get back in it,” Stephenson said. “We got the interception in the end zone to keep it a one-score game and then we put together a
long drive, but we weren’t able to finish it with points. And then they put together a drive, kick the field goal, get the ball back and hit on the long touchdown pass right before halftime.
“We didn’t play that bad I thought, there were just several big plays that cost us. And that makes it a tough pill to swallow.”
Warner Robins would add another touchdown a minute into the fourth quarter and put up its final score with 5:54 remaining to lead 38-7 before the Yellow Jackets would cross the goal line again.
Starting at their own 32, sophomore Caden Williams went five yards on first down and then Leonard broke off a 55-yard run to put Calhoun inside the Warner Robins 10.
On the next play, Lewis and Smith connected again for an 8-yard touchdown to make it 38-14 with 4:38 left in the contest.
Warner Robins closes the year with a 14-1 record.
Calhoun ends an amazing season with a 12-3 mark.