Today’s interviewee is Colquitt County coach Sean Calhoun, whose team plays at home tonight against Lee County in a game between ranked teams. Calhoun became Colquitt County’s coach last season and led the Packers to the Class 7A semifinals and a 13-1 record. Colquitt County is 3-0 this season.
1. How would you compare last year’s Packers team that fell just short of the title game to this one? “The returning starters definitely got a taste of the semifinals when we played in it last year. The moment was a little too big for some of us. Some don’t like to admit that, but it was. It took us a little bit to get going, and we didn’t play well enough to win. There’s no excuses. That’s been our driving force leading up to the season. It’s not so much that game or score [Colquitt County lost to Carrollton 35-27], but just how it ended. Offensively this year, that’s the side we return the majority of our starters. We return seven or eight, which is a lot. When you’ve got 9 [wide receiver Ny Carr], the quarterback [Neko Fann] and the tight end [Landen Thomas] – those are three college football players – you have a good shot. We’re returning some really good firepower. What we’re doing so far is what we expect of the offense [averaging 45 points per game]. Defensively, we replaced eight of 11, so that’s a work in progress. So this team is a mixture of kids that were there last year who remember the semifinals and actually played and a handful of starters who have never been asked to be starters before. They’re not young. They’re juniors and seniors. But they’re young in game experience, and there’s only one way to get it.”
2. Ny Carr is one of your best-known players since he’s committed to Georgia, and he’s off to a great start [23 receptions, 376 yards, eight touchdowns]. What does he do that causes defenses so much trouble? “Elite, that’s for sure. Speed, quickness, strength, catching ability and catching radius. He’s not a 6-3 or 6-4 receiver, but he makes up for it with his arm length. He’s a really good route runner, and he’s got a big knowledge for the game. He works hard at practice. When you don’t have a backup pushing to take his job, that’s an issue you have in high school sports, but he’s a really good practice player. When you put all that together, you’ve got something really special, something that I may never coach again, honestly.”
3. Your quarterback, Neko, is off to a great start too, and he’s had a productive career (5,501 passing yards, school-record 72 touchdowns]. He seems underrated in a state full of great quarterbacks. What would you want to say about him? “It’s what you said. He’s very underrated. He doesn’t get talked about enough. He’s a kid who’s played every down for us as a sophomore and junior. This past week, he broke the career touchdown passes record, and we still have over half the season to go. He’s exactly what you want in a quarterback when it comes down to decision-making, leadership and poise. The other night he threw five touchdown passes. When he threw his fifth, you’d think it was a 5-yard completion. If he overthrows one, he treats it the same. He’s a phenomenal student with a 3.9 GPA. He’s a terrific baseball player. He’s everything to us. When you’re dealing with the spread offense, if you don’t have that guy, either A, you have no chance, or B, you better change offenses. We have a chance every Friday night because of him.”
4. What do you expect out of Lee County tonight? “The running back is unbelievable [Ousmane Kromah]. They’re physical, and they don’t hide it. They have a big, physical offensive line and maybe the best running back in Georgia, one of the best in the country, and that’s what they want to do. On defense, they play a 3-3, and they blitz and stunt from everywhere and want to create havoc and negative plays and put you in second- and third-and-long. It can be very confusing if you’re not locked in. They’re a very good football program that knows how to win. We’ve got to find ways to take the win from them because they won’t give it to us.”
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