CALHOUN, Ga. — Few seasons over the past two decades began with more questions surrounding the Calhoun High School football team than this one.
The Yellow Jackets, fresh off a surprising run to the GHSA Class AAAAA championship game, had to replace 17 starters. Among those were three-year starting quarterback Christian Lewis, star receivers Cole Speer and Quin Smith, and four offensive linemen.
The defense lost even more experience, with just two starters back. The great majority of those 17 players were multiyear starters, and early in summer camp, Calhoun coach Clay Stephenson described his team in this manner: “We’ve definitely got more questions than answers right now.”
Making matters worse for the perennial state power was a schedule that offered no breaks over the first six weeks, and when the Jackets started 2-2 with losses to a pair of state title hopefuls in Blessed Trinity and Cedartown (No. 1 in Class AAAA), the jury was still out on Calhoun’s hopes.
Two weeks and two impressive wins later, the verdict is in, and not only are the Jackets on the right trajectory, they are on a path to achieve a first for the program.