CALHOUN, Ga. - Baylon Spector is really starting to like this ever-evolving Calhoun High School football offense.
The Yellow Jackets showed off yet another version of the attack Friday night in a 34-0 win at Sonoraville, and it starred the versatile senior. Spector, who began the season as the team's quarterback, was the featured tailback Friday and racked up 130 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries while adding a 3-yard touchdown catch.
"I do like what we're doing," said Spector, the Clemson recruit who also helped the Jackets hold Sonoraville to 108 total yards. "I'm just doing what is best for the team. Right now we're starting to play pretty good."
In what was billed as a showdown in subregion 6-AAA South, Calhoun (6-2, 3-0) took control early, with a little help from the Phoenix (6-3, 3-1). Sonoraville fumbled on the second play of the game, with Calhoun taking over at the 20 and needing three Spector runs to make it a quick 7-0 game.
Trenton Daniel ripped off 48 yards for the Phoenix on their next play to the Calhoun 37, but from that moment it was all downhill for the Sonoraville offense. The Jackets forced a turnover on downs four plays later and immediately embarked on a 78-yard drive that was helped by a Sonoraville pass-interference call.
Spector, who played a good part of the first half at quarterback, along with Gavin Gray, sneaked in from the 1 for a 14-0 lead. The sophomore Gray then started to show what he could do two drives later by going 3-for-4 to lead a 54-yard drive, ending it with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Luke Johns and a 21-0 lead.
Any Sonoraville hopes were quickly dashed when, after another lost fumble on its next play, Calhoun quickly drove for a touchdown, with Gray hitting Johns for 20 yards and Spector ripping off 24 and punching it in from the 1 for a 28-0 halftime lead.
"I like the way we came out tonight," Calhoun coach Hal Lamb said. "Baylon is some special athlete and we used him tonight kind of the way Stanford uses the (Christian) McCaffrey kid, all over the place. I wasn't as pleased with the second half, but overall we played well, especially on the defensive side of the ball."
Calhoun dared the Phoenix to throw the ball with eight men in the box, but the run-heavy team never got anything going, completing just one of four passes for 1 yard. Meanwhile, Calhoun finished with 404 yards, with Gray completing 18 of 28 passes for 223 yards and the two scores and Malik Lawrence catching six throws for 91 yards.
Calhoun can clinch the top seed in the game 10 region crossover games with a win next week over Bremen, while Sonoraville will root for a Calhoun win, which would secure the No. 2 seed for the Phoenix.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22