Both Calhoun and Ringgold had much to gain with wins Friday night. When the final horns sounded, however, a pair of losses left one of those football teams facing a tougher path to the GHSA playoffs and the other still fighting to get in.
Calhoun lost at home to Cartersville, 31-14, at Phil Reeve Stadium, ending the Yellow Jackets’ regular season at 7-3 and 3-2 in Region 7-AAAAA and relegating them to the region’s No. 3 seed.
Ringgold led for much of its Region 6-AAA game at Sonoraville before the Phoenix rallied for a 26-23 win. The Tigers (5-4, 4-3) may now have to defeat region champion Rockmart to make the playoffs, though Friday’s cancellation of the LaFayette-Rockmart game could complicate matters.
The turning point in the Calhoun loss came with 45 seconds to play in the first half after the Jackets had scored on a Christian Lewis 1-yard run to cut the Cartersville lead to 10-7. The Purple Hurricanes (8-1, 4-0) answered right back with a Devonte Ross touchdown catch on a pass by Carlos Del Rio with seven seconds left to go back up by 10.
READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night’s Chattanooga-area high school football games)