Calhoun City trounced visiting H.W. Byers 57-12 in the first round of the Class 2A football playoffs.
The Wildcats improved to 11-0 and will play at South Delta (4-8, 3-2 Region 3-2A) on Friday. It took Calhoun City (11-0, 4-0 Region 4-2A) 14 games last season before its eleventh win, and in 2014 the Wildcats achieved that feat during the first week in November.
“I told the team that one of my personal goals was to win 11 games this year, and we’ve done it in 11 attempts,” Calhoun City coach Perry Liles said. “It’s really exciting.”
Liles could not have scripted a much better start to the playoffs. The Wildcats did not suffer any major injuries, and built a lead large enough in the second quarter to empty the benches and get the backups valuable playing time and experience.
The Wildcats defense did allow 12 points – the most any team has scored since East Webster scored 18 on October 10 – but Liles wasn’t concerned with the effort. H.W. Byers played its starters the entire game and Calhoun City still held the Lions to 120 yards of total offense.
“We want to play not only for this year, but for next year, too,” Liles said. “We want to finish strong this year and keep people injury-free. We’re working with (the second-team defense); we have to play a little bit better.”
Calhoun City scored six touchdowns on its first 17 plays, and built a 42-0 lead midway through the second quarter. By that time a running clock had already been instituted for nearly four minutes. The Wildcats finished with 391 total yards.
Despite the lopsided score that is customary this season, Calhoun City has avoided complacency.
“I feel like we’re still preparing each week and taking it seriously, and making business actions in practice. I feel real good about that,” Liles said. “In the playoffs, every week it’s going to be the last game for a group of seniors and we just don’t want it to be ours anytime soon.”
Sophomore running back Jessie Nabors led all players with 78 yards rushing on only five carries. He also scored three touchdowns and had an interception on defense that he nearly returned for another touchdown. Senior linebacker Steele Liles also had an interception in the second quarter.
“(The interception) was awesome. That’s one thing I love doing on defense; catching interceptions and trying to take it back,” Nabors said. “I love a pick-six. That’s one thing I love.”
Nabors is part of a talented group of Calhoun City running backs that includes seniors Pat Gardner and Jadarius Glass, and juniors Brieton Sykes and Jaalen Thomas. Quarterback Chakel Gates also is featured prominently in the running game.
“Jessie is an outstanding player,” Liles said. “He’s a young tenth-grader, and we knew he would play well. He plays well every week. Sometimes that might get overshadowed, but he really does play well.”
There have been more than enough footballs to go around this season for all of the backs.
“It feels awesome. We have a lot of rushing yards this season. Our running game is so strong this year,” Nabors said. “Every week I’m on the script a lot, so I really believe I am going to be able to play every game like I want to. We have a good offensive coordinator, and talented players. We just have to keep on working.”
Gates had three carries for 38 yards and one touchdown, and Glass added two attempts for 18 yards and one touchdown. Gardner scored a two-point conversion, and although Sykes had just one rush for nine yards, he still found the end zone on a 54-yard pass from Gates. Thomas dressed and could have played if needed, but was held out to fully recover from an injury.
Freshman quarterback JoJo Gray and junior running back Micheal Robinson each scored rushing touchdowns. Liles is glad to have the depth in his backfield.
“Last year we lost our two starting running backs, and that was one of my concerns. It’s good to have a lot to go to because, really, we have five or six that can play and that’s good,” Liles said.