CALHOUN, Ga. – Much of Calhoun’s success on the football field over the past decade and a half came when coach Hal Lamb and his staff switched the program’s offensive philosophy from run-first to more of a pass-friendly spread attack.
The Yellow Jackets, though, don’t mind returning to their running roots, especially when weather conditions prevent the normal game plan from being implemented. Such was the case Friday night in a GHSA Class AAA state quarterfinal game against Jenkins, when Calhoun used a 157-yard rushing performance from senior Zack Fuller to win 24-12 on a cold and windy night at Phil Reeve Stadium.
“We couldn’t get any rhythm offensively because of the weather,” said Lamb, referencing wintry gusts that reached 20 mph at times. “We couldn’t throw it against the wind, so finally we had to just rely on our run game. Zack ran hard-nosed tonight, and we needed him. I’m real pleased with the way our offensive line played, and of course our defense played well.”
Next Friday, top-ranked Calhoun (13-0) will host No. 4 Peach County (11-2) in a rematch of last year’s controversial championship game. Peach County beat Westminster 21-3 in their quarterfinal Friday.
Whether it was the conditions or possibly peeking ahead to Peach, Calhoun had to overcome a myriad of mistakes to escape unranked Jenkins (9-4). Those miscues included a fumble at the Jenkins 1, two other drives that got inside the 30 with no points, a missed field goal and a fumble in Calhoun territory late in the game that kept the Warriors’ hopes alive.