Calhoun explodes after halftime to pull away from Northwest

Published 10:30 pm Friday, October 11, 2024

The Calhoun High School football team used a big 34-point second half, including 28 in the fourth quarter alone, to remain unbeaten in Region 7-3A with a 55-21 win over Northwest Whitfield Friday night at Phil Reeve Stadium.

The Yellow Jackets, with a couple of big plays, led just 21-14 at the halftime with the Bruins’ two touchdowns coming on a pair of long, time-consuming drives. But Calhoun took advantage of a couple of turnovers that gave them a short field offensively to get things rolling in the third quarter and put the game away.

The Yellow Jackets improved to 3-0 in the Region and now have a two-game lead over Northwest Whitfield, which slipped to 2-2 in the league with the setback.

Calhoun took the opening kickoff and it didn’t take them long to get a quick lead.

The hosts moved 88 yards on seven plays and finished the first drive of the game with freshman quarterback Trace Hawkins throwing a 62-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Justin Beasley after he got behind the Northwest Whitfield secondary. Kicker Carlos Lopez made the first of his seven point-after tries and the Jackets were up 7-0 with 8:55 to go in the first period.

But the Bruins responded in excellent fashion, piecing together a 15-play, 76-yard drive to tie the game at seven. With quarterback Gavin Nuckolls and running backs Caden Ramsey and Cameron Collins picking up good yardage on the ground, the visitors completed the impressive march with Nuckolls throwing a 12-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Will Wade. The Bruins added the extra point and the game was deadlocked at 7 with just 54 seconds left in the first quarter.

Calhoun took the upper hand back quickly after the ensuing Northwest Whitfield. On the first play from scrimmage, Beasley took a handoff on a sweep and raced 71 yards for the touchdown, putting the home team back up 14-7 with 38 seconds to play in the first.

The Bruins had to punt it away after three running plays on their next possession, and Calhoun began moving the ball again as Hawkins and freshman running back Isiah Nalls picked up positive yardage on the ground. However, the drive stalled at the NW 28-yard-line and the Jackets were short on a 45-yard field goal attempt to keep it a one-score game.

Taking over at their own 25 and mixing up the run with a couple of big passes, the Bruins came right back with Nuckolls finishing off the 10-play, 75-yard movement with a 10-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Akendris Douglas. and after the point-after kick, the game was tied at 14 with 2:21 left in the first half.

But Calhoun would get one more score before halftime. Using a Northwest Whitfield pass interference and a 19-yard pass from Hawkins to receiver Jake Jordan, the Jackets traveled 59 yards in eight plays with a Hawkins’ nine-yard run over the goal line giving them a 21-14 lead with just eight seconds showing until halftime.

The teams swapped punts to start the third quarter before a NW Whitfield fumble was recovered by Calhoun linebacker Clayton Goad, giving them the ball at the Bruins’ 16. On the third straight running play, Hawkins kept the ball and carried it four yards for the score, putting Calhoun up 28-14 with 2:50 left in the third.

But the Jackets broke it open with a 28-point fourth quarter.

After Goad recovered another Bruin fumble a minute later, the Jackets were set up at the Northwest Whitfield 5 as the clock reached the final minute of the third.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Hawkins threw a low 4-yard touchdown pass to Beasley and Calhoun’s lead was 35-14 with 11:53 to play.

But the Bruins kept hope alive when they returned the following Calhoun kickoff 83 yards with sophomore Kyle Cummings going virtually untouched. Junior Neery Martinez drilled his third PAT of the cool evening for the Bruins to cut their deficit to 35-21 with almost a full quarter still to play.

The rest of the night, however, belong to Calhoun as the Yellow Jackets would add three scores from there.

On the drive after the kickoff return, the Jackets used two big runs to score again. The first one was a Hunter White 41-yard run and on the next play, Nalls went 19 yards to paydirt and it was 42-21 with exactly 10 minutes to go.

The Bruins didn’t field Calhoun’s sky kickoff and took over immediately at the Northwest Whitfield 31. Two plays later, Jordan pulled in a pass from Hawkins and went into the end zone for the 30-yard score, making it 49-21.

The final Calhoun score came when sophomore quarterback Cross Land threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to junior Jaden Perkins. But the Jackets missed the extra point with 3:13 left on the clock to end the scoring.

Calhoun improved to 4-3 on the year with its third straight win and the Yellow Jackets will go to Gilmer County in another Region 7-3A showdown.

Northwest Whitfield slipped to 6-2 overall and 2-2 in the league and the Bruins return home next Friday night to host Adairsville.