Calhoun City had no trouble earning a win in its season opener on Friday night, beating Ashland 55-0.
The Wildcats gained a large lead early and didn’t look back, with the last three quarters featuring a running clock. Calhoun City head coach Chad White bragged on his team staying focused even when
Coach Chad White
they were up by an insurmountable margin.
“What I was happy about was sometimes when you’re able to go out and start clicking and start putting points up, sometimes you see a little bit of a letdown,” White said. “But we didn’t do that. We stayed focused and kept playing hard. We kept on having that urgency.”
Although the Wildcats won with ease on Friday, they didn’t play a perfect game, giving White something to work on this week in preparation for Houston.
“[We had] some missed tackles, some missed blocks, things like that,” White said. “Felt like our effort was there, but one thing we want to work on is finishing those things.”
Defensively, the Wildcats were led by Jayden Griffin and Tashon Hyde in tackles and found interceptions from Emariun Clayton and Chardarius Hill, and Clayton’s interception was returned for a touchdown.
After their win on Friday, Calhoun City is preparing to host the 3A Houston Hilltoppers who defeated 4A Pontotoc 26-0 last week. According to White, the biggest challenge that Houston presents is the disparity in depth.
“They can throw more numbers at us,” White said. “Where a lot of our kids have to play both ways, not a lot of their kids have to play both ways, and that’s kind of caught up to us in the past. That’s hard in the second game of the year when it’s as hot and humid as it is.”
Although the Hilltoppers are a talented team from a larger school, White’s Wildcats aren’t shying away from the challenge this week.
“They’re a bigger school, but we’re not going to use that as an excuse,” White said. “We play a hard schedule because we feel like it makes us better.”
Kickoff between City and Houston is slated for 7 p.m. on Friday.
