Region 6-AAA at a glance
* Last year’s champion: Calhoun had a 15-0 season ending in the Class AAA state championship.* Team to beat: Calhoun, the preseason No. 1 Class AAA team in the state, is again the unanimous pick to win the region with a returning nucleus of stars off last season’s squad.* Watch out for: The team just on the outside looking in last year, North Murray, adds transfer quarterback Will Swantic to what should be an explosive offense.* Best game: Adairsville at Ringgold on Sept. 11 again could determine which team gets to challenge Calhoun for the region title.* Dream schedule: North Murray opens play with nonregion games against double-A teams Rockmart and Chattooga and gets to host last year’s top two region teams, Calhoun and Adairsville.* Nightmare schedule: While Calhoun has the toughest two nonregion games against Dalton and Carrollton, the toughest league slate might belong to Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe. The Warriors end the season with games at Adairsville and Calhoun sandwiched around a home date with another 2014 playoff team, Sonoraville.* Players to watch: Calhoun has the biggest stars in senior SEC commitments Landon Rice (Auburn) and Jack DeFoor (Ole Miss), but there is star power throughout the region, including Sonoraville DE Kenny Cooper, Ringgold QB Devin Lancaster and Adairsville RB Sidnee Johnson.* Predicted order of finish: Calhoun, Sonoraville, Ringgold, Adairsville, North Murray, Murray County, LFO, Gordon Central, Coahulla Creek.
There are two major facts to face in Georgia Region 6-AAA football this year.
One is that none of the coaches in the league are conceding anything to prohibitive favorite and defending state champion Calhoun.
Two, however, is the sobering fact the Yellow Jackets have not lost a region game since 2001, spanning 95 games and three classifications.
"Yeah, they're pretty good," joked Ringgold coach Robert Akins, whose team gave the Jackets their toughest region test last year. "Calhoun is always going to be good, and they could be really special this year."
If there is hope among the Tigers, Sonoraville, North Murray and the rest of the league contenders, it's that teams coming off state championships sometimes lose a bit of the edge that helped them get the title.
If you're counting on that from this veteran-laden Calhoun team, read no further.
"I haven't seen it," coach Hal Lamb said when asked if complacency were an issue. "They've worked even harder in the weight room and with our speed stuff. It's very hard to win a state championship, and they know that. It's our job as coaches to make sure (overconfidence) doesn't happen."
More to the point is senior quarterback Kaelan Riley.
"You can look in these seniors' eyes and see that's not going to happen," he said. "Nobody wants to play their last game as a senior and lose. We've got enough heart to make another run."
Riley is part of a senior group full of not only talent but leadership qualities. It helps that the team's best players, which also include fellow seniors Jack DeFoor, Landon Rice and Jireh Wilson, are also its most vociferous.
It also helps that this year's seniors can look back three years ago to a season in which the Jackets, fresh off their first championship, might have been satisfied with one title.
"My freshman year we came in after winning a state championship and maybe our team got content," said left tackle DeFoor, a future Ole Miss Rebel. "We saw that, and now as seniors we aren't going to let that happen."
If anything, the Jackets are working on instilling even more of a killer instinct. Several games last season were marked by slow starts, including a narrow playoff win over Elbert County in which Calhoun committed several turnovers.
"I want us to come out and beat teams that shouldn't be on the same field with us," Riley said. "We need to come into games and make a statement and let teams know we're serious. Believe me, we're hungry."
The school has its hardware, Phil Reeve Stadium its new banner and the players their rings. What they want now, especially the seniors, is to be legendary.
"This is Calhoun and we're the class of 2016, and we want to leave a stamp on it and prove we're something special," said Rice, a future Auburn tight end. "There are no distractions for this team. We're focusing on our senior year, and we want to give the Calhoun family their first back-to-back champions."
So much for an attitude letdown.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.