CALHOUN, Ga. - There were enough mistakes Friday night to give coach Hal Lamb a week's worth of teaching moments for his Calhoun High School football team.
Yet in the aftermath of the 28-20 win over Monroe Area in a GHSA Class AAA second-round playoff game, the positives were also not hard to miss.
The Yellow Jackets (11-1), who will travel to Liberty County for next week's quarterfinal game, won with special teams and defense. They held prolific Monroe Area quarterback Chandler Byron to 42 yards on 28 carries and 7-of-14 passing for 142 yards a week after the junior had more than 400 total yards.
"We didn't play that well, but give Monroe Area credit," Lamb said of the team Calhoun defeated with a running clock in last year's playoffs. "We kept hitting them and hitting them, but they wouldn't go away. Sometimes you have to win games like this, even in the playoffs.
"The Byron kid is tough. We couldn't tackle him. I don't think our kids quite understood how strong and fast he is, but I also credit our defense for staying tough."
The Calhoun offense's struggles started early when it failed to get a first down after starting the first two possessions inside the Monroe Area 40. After putting together a 67-yard drive, mainly on the powerful legs of Zack Fuller (154 yards on 26 carries), the Jackets gave up a quick score when Byron hit tailback Jakia Thompson on a 36-yard touchdown pass to set up a 7-7 tie in the second quarter.
The special teams then took over, first recovering a fumbled punt at the Purple Hurricanes' 38, which led to a five-play drive and Fuller's 1-yard run for a 14-7 lead. Moments later, after Brice Craig sacked Byron at the Monroe Area 11 on third down, the Jackets blocked the punt, with Collin Baggett recovering it in the end zone with just over a minute to go in the half.
"Those were obviously big special teams plays," Lamb said, "especially with the way we struggled offensively."
The Hurricanes added a field goal on their first second-half drive, but the Jackets put together a 62-yard drive that began late in the third, with quarterback Gavin Gray finally finding a groove. He hit Luke Moseley for completions of 20 and 10 yards and the drive reached the 13 as the final quarter started.
On third down, after a timeout, Gray threw a lateral to tight end Davis Allen, who stepped back and hit a wide open Moseley for a touchdown pass that pushed the lead to 28-10.
"That was my first pass, and I guess it was a good one," laughed Allen, the 6-foot-5 junior who anchored Calhoun's defensive assault. "We had worked on it this week, and that was a big play."
The Jackets, after forcing a three-and-out, appeared to be going in for the kill at the Monroe Area 32 when Fuller was hit and fumbled, with Thompson scooping and sprinting 72 yards for a shocking score with 9:54 remaining.
Calhoun drove but turned the ball over on downs at the Hurricanes' 25, where Byron connected with Emmanuel Okwudili for 38 yards. The drive stalled at the Calhoun 6, and Monroe Area coach Kevin Reach elected to make it an eight-point game with a field goal with 1:39 remaining.
However, the ensuing onside kick was recovered by Calhoun's Nate Bonner and the Jackets were able to run out the clock, ending Monroe Area's season at 10-2.
"We just didn't come out focused, and we had a slow start offensively," said Fuller, who has more than 300 yards in the two playoff wins. "They came out hitting us, but they didn't do anything we weren't expecting. We'll be ready next week."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.