Calhoun City started slowly but found enough of a groove to easily defeat Strayhorn 35-7 in the second round of the Class 2A playoffs.
An inspired Mustangs squad surprised the Wildcats with the first points of the game following a turnover on the opening drive. Strayhorn won the coin toss and elected to play defense first, which provided a spark for the underdogs.
Calhoun City (10-3) fumbled on its second play and Strayhorn (8-4) returned the recovery 28 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The Mustangs’ defense, fueled by a vocal visiting crowd, provided another pivotal play on the next drive.
The Wildcats drove to Strayhorn’s 37-yard line, but faced fourth down and less than one foot. Senior running back Brieton Sykes was stopped for a one-yard loss and another turnover.
“They hit us in the mouth early, and I don’t think we were expecting it,” Calhoun City quarterback JoJo Gray said. “We don’t expect a team like that to hit us in the mouth like they did, but we just had to come together and get it done.”
Calhoun City rallied after facing the early adversity. Strayhorn punted after just three plays on its next drive, and the Wildcats wasted little time evening the score. Sykes took a handoff up the middle and ran untouched 66 yards for a touchdown on the ensuing possession.
“That dude (Sykes) is a beast,” Gray said. “All I have to do is handoff to him and he’s going to make special plays for us.”
Calhoun City’s defense then began to hit its stride and forced a turnover following the touchdown. Treshone Cooper intercepted quarterback Brad Ross to setup the next score, a 6-yard run by Jesse Nabors with 4:48 remaining in the first quarter.
The Wildcats stopped Strayhorn on fourth down and recovered a fumble on consecutive possessions. Calhoun City allowed 20 yards of offense in the first half, and only 47 total for the game.
“Our defense is lights out,” Calhoun City coach Perry Liles said. “They win the game every time. You beat good teams by playing defense and I’m very proud of them.”
Sykes extended the lead to 21-7 after scoring on a 2-yard touchdown run with 5:53 left before halftime. Not to be outdone, Nabors scored his second touchdown of the half on a four-yard run and then added the two-point conversion for a 29-7 lead.
The Wildcats wouldn’t need much more. Sykes capped the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown run the open the third quarter, and finished with 13 carries for 158 yards and three touchdowns. But he and Nabors weren’t the only Wildcats who had success running the ball.
Gray, who admitted to not playing his best the past two weeks, had nine carries for 82 yards. His longest run was a 46 yard scramble on a read-option.
“We take what people give us,” Liles said. “Teams have been taking JoJo out of the game which opens up other things, but tonight they did the opposite so we let him run.”
Calhoun City will travel to Baldwyn on Friday in the third round of the playoffs. Baldwyn (11-2) had its own struggles early in a second round playoff game against J.Z. George and committed four turnovers in the first quarter. The Bearcats led just 7-0 at halftime, but rallied for a 31-0 victory.
Liles and the Wildcats will look to avoid another slow start against a Baldwyn team that was won nine games in a row.
“We have to learn, we have to work on ourselves and we have to be ready for every playoff game we play,” Liles said. “All teams at this level in the playoffs are going to be good. They’re going to come at you, so we just have to have our mind ready to play.”
