Calhoun quarterback Baylon Spector passes at a 7-on-7 passing camp on Wednesday, July 13, 2016, in Calhoun, Tenn.CALHOUN, Ga. – Hal Lamb freely admits he and his Calhoun High School football coaching staff have been a bit spoiled over the last 15 seasons.
Or, in a term he would rather use, blessed to have had a run of quarterbacks never seen in the northwest Georgia area. The names are a Who’s Who of signal-calling: Cody Worley, Tre Lamb, Michael Johnson, Nash Nance, Landon Curtis, Taylor Lamb and Kaelan Riley.
Each was at least first-team all-state, some were the classification’s state player of the year, and most have gone on to play or are currently playing at the collegiate level. With that said, Coach Lamb and offensive coordinator Mike Davis knew 2016 would be a transition season, though neither expected it to be quite this transitional.
Senior Baylon Spector, a Clemson University safety commitment and formerly the backup to the graduated Riley, was asked to step in at quarterback while a strong group of youngsters was being groomed for the future. However, when the defense started struggling – most notably in a 56-0 loss to Cartersville that left the team with a 1-2 record – the staff decided Spector could no longer miss time on defense.
The Yellow Jackets have since gone to the heretofore dreaded two-quarterback system, with the 200-pound strong runner Spector joining sophomore Gavin Gray, who is a gifted passer, in sharing the position. Lamb said playing time is pretty much determined by the matchup and the flow of the game.