The Calhoun football program has been one of the state’s most successful this century. The Yellow Jackets have won at least 10 games in each of the last 19 seasons. Last year Calhoun went 10-2 and reached the second round of the state playoffs.
Don’t expect a dropoff in the quality of the program, even though the Yellow Jackets have been promoted from Class AAA to Class AAAAA and will share Region 7 with Blessed Trinity, Cartersville and Hiram.
It’s a region of champions: Blessed Trinity won the Class AAAA title the last three seasons, Cartersville was the AAAA champion in 2015 and 2016, and Calhoun has won three titles since 2011. And Hiram broke through and made the playoffs last season.
Calhoun coach Clay Stephenson, who took the reigns from Hal Lamb last fall, isn’t backing away from the challenge presented by the new region alignment.
“We’re going to focus on ourselves and make sure we continue to work hard and practice hard,” Stephenson said. “We’re trying to embrace it. We’re playing new teams and the kids are excited about that. We’re playing some great teams.”
Stephenson also learned the difficulty of finding non-region games. Like many successful programs, Calhoun had to stretch to find opponents. The Yellow Jackets will play Woodstock (their first game against an AAAAAAA opponent), Ridgeland and Cedartown. They will resume an old rivalry series against Dalton, an opponent they’ve played 47 times, and picked up Gardendale, Ala., a team that reached the second of Alabama’s 6A playoffs.
“It’s going to make us better,” Stephenson said.
Calhoun will have one of the region’s top threats in running back Jerrian Hames, an all-region pick a year ago. Hames (5-10, 170) was a productive workhorse, rushing 215 times for 1,544 yards and 23 touchdowns. He ran 28 times for 154 yards and three touchdowns in the first-round playoff win over Morgan County.
“He’s a playmaker,” Stephenson said.
The Yellow Jackets sustained plenty of offensive losses from last fall, among them three-year starting quarterback Jake Morrow and offensive linemen Elijah Baldridge and Jaedan Curtis.
The quarterback spot will likely fall to either Christian Lewis, a junior, or Jake Prather, an all-region pick at free safety. “We have different ways we can go with that,” Stephenson said.
Calhoun’s quest to find assistance on the offensive line was not helped by the inability to hold spring football practice. Spring can be the optimal time for linemen to get in their much-needed reps.
The defense lost two key linemen and two linebackers, but return two-year starter Carson Griffin (who also plays tight end), second-team all-region picks Brett Garland and Mason Green, as well as the experienced Prather and Will Seamons in the secondary.
Stephenson misses the ability to have spring practice, but continues to work with the staff to make the best of the situation.
“I tell our coaches, everybody is in the same boat,” Stephenson said. “So if there’s anything we can do to get an advantage, make sure we do it. That starts with the staff. We’ve never had this much time to study ourselves and get ready. It’s a unique time for everybody and we’ve got to make sure we’re using the time wisely.”
Calhoun opens at Dalton on Aug. 21.
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