Jackets sting Dade again

TRENTON, Ga. — Dade County took its best swing — or at least its best team — against Calhoun in years.

The Wolverines entered with a perfect 7-0 record and had shut out their last three opponents. They accomplished their first major goal of entering this game undefeated.

Supporters showed up in droves and built what one longtime fan called the largest crowd in more than 20 years.

But the Wolverines whiffed.

Calhoun stung the Wolverines with a 43-8 victory that sealed another subregion (7-AA-B) championship for the state’s third-ranked Yellow Jackets.

“We felt like we played a pretty good first half,” Dade coach Bradley Warren said. “I thought their depth got us in the second half and they were playing 22 on 11. We wanted to see where we were, and we have some work to do.”

Senior running back Dustin Christian rushed for three touchdowns and 190 yards on 18 carries in the Yellow Jackets’ 20th straight win over the Wolverines. Chase Rierson scored on a 12-yard run and on a 12-yard pass from Landon Curtis. Darius Washington had Calhoun’s other touchdown.

David Page caught a 36-yard pass from Rhett Lusk in the fourth quarter for the Wolverines’ only touchdown. Fullback John Hampton had 110 yards on 22 carries for Dade (7-1, 5-1).

“We still feel like we have a real good football team and we can make a run in the playoffs,” Warren said. “We’re a better team than the scoreboard shows, and it’s real hard for us to come back against a good team like Calhoun.”

In the first quarter, the Wolverines had Christian penned along the sideline for what could have been a 10-yard loss. But he kept giving ground, then slipped through two defenders and down the sideline for a 27-yard touchdown that led one Dade County reserve to slam his helmet to the ground.

“They defended it pretty good, but that’s just tremendous personal effort,” said Calhoun coach Hal Lamb, who attended the funeral of former Jackets receiver Derek Ramsey on Friday.

Washington pushed the lead to 15-0 with a 4-yard run in the second quarter. The Yellow Jackets (8-0, 6-0) took that lead to the locker room, where they made adjustments to the Wolverines’ new defense.

“They came out in something we’d never seen,” Curtis said. “But we hung in there.”

Calhoun limited Dade County’s bruising offense to 102 rushing yards in the first half, and the half-time adjustments definitely worked.

Calhoun scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the second half, which led to a running clock in the fourth quarter.

“We came out slow and we weren’t executing,” Christian said. “Coach Lamb told us to get it together, and we did.”