CALHOUN, Ga. - Kaelan Riley isn't a drama student, but if the Calhoun High School senior quarterback ever wanted to leave the game for the arts, he's got a good head start.
Riley scored four touchdowns Friday night, including three in overtime as the Yellow Jackets defeated Elbert County 33-30 in a Class AAA quarterfinal game at Phil Reeve Stadium.
Calhoun trailed three times in the game, and each time Riley - as he put it - would not be denied.
"That's a heck of a football team we beat tonight," said Riley, who scored the game-winner on a 9-yard run after Elbert had taken a 30-27 lead in the third extra session. "Honestly, we had everything we wanted available for us tonight, but we didn't execute very well most of the game. I told my team in overtime that we cannot be denied. We didn't want to be the first class to lose in this field."
Calhoun (13-0) will face Blessed Trinity next Friday. A coin flip today will determine the host team.
Elbert County's season ended at 11-3.
Points were harder to come by in regulation. A pair of long Calhoun drives in the first half netted only a pair of Alex Flores field goals. The lead was 6-3 in the third quarter when "Jet Fuel" Mecole Hardman finally broke loose.
The nation's No. 1 athlete in some recruiting circles, held to 65 yards on his first 15 carries, broke off a 50-yard touchdown run on his 16th, putting the Blue Devils ahead for the first time at 10-6 early in the final quarter.
Riley, who had been harassed by an active Elbert defensive front all night, had a 24-yard run on Calhoun's second play. Four plays later the Mercer University recruit faked a screen pass right and hit Jonah Landry with a pass to the Elbert 1, where Riley scored on the next play for a 13-10 lead.
Hardman drove Elbert to the Calhoun 5 late in regulation before coach Sid Fritts elected to kick a tying field goal, sending the game into overtime.
The teams traded touchdowns on each of their first two possessions, with Hardman scoring on runs of 1 and 4 yards and Riley answering with a 4-yard run and an 18-yard scramble.
Elbert got the ball first in the third overtime and was finally stopped as senior linebacker Jireh Wilson corralled Hardman on back-to-back keepers to force a 28-yard field goal.
"Our three guys up front are warriors, and they got me free and I was able to make a couple of plays," Wilson said of the big stops. "We kept believing and grinding, and we knew we were going to get the job done."
The Jackets faced third-and-4 when Riley bulled his way in off right tackle from 9 yards out. It was his second overtime walk-off touchdown in consecutive playoff games.
"These kids amaze me," Calhoun coach Hal Lamb said. "We didn't play very well at times tonight, and you have to give Elbert County credit. We just kept fighting and fighting and found a way to win.
"Kaelan is a winner. When the game's on the line he wants the ball in his hands, and there was no doubt in our minds we were going to give him the ball."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296. Follow him at @youngsports22.