CALHOUN, Ga. — A week after pulling off one of the biggest upsets of this year’s GHSA football playoffs, Calhoun is the one on upset alert in Friday’s Class AAA semifinal at Phil Reeve Stadium.
The fifth-seeded Yellow Jackets (10-3) will host seventh-seeded Stephenson (10-3) for the right to play for a state championship Dec. 18 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. To get to Atlanta, Calhoun will have to win a decidedly different type of game than last week’s 38-38 upset of top-ranked Peach County in Fort Valley.
While the Jackets have been close to unstoppable on offense in the postseason — including scoring on all but two of their possessions at Peach County — their defense last week gave up more than 400 yards and allowed several big plays by the Trojans and their elite passing attack.
Friday, though, the focus defensively will be on stopping a ground game that has produced more than 3,300 yards behind running backs Jayden Johnson (1,323 yards) and Anthony Booker, who has 643 yards and 10 touchdowns in the playoffs.
“They are very athletic and coached really well,” Calhoun coach Clay Stephenson said. “They don’t do a whole lot, but what they do they do very well. They have two huge offensive linemen that do a great job and two backs who can run it well.”