ROME, Ga. - A game of what-could-have-beens turned into a second-half nightmare for the Ridgeland Panthers on Thursday night at Barron Stadium.
Ahead of mighty Calhoun by a touchdown and seemingly moving at will, the Panthers self-destructed on several occasions, and the Yellow Jackets made them pay. Calhoun scored 38 consecutive points - 31 coming in a dominant third quarter - to win 45-21 in the opening game of Georgia's Corky Kell Classic.
"The bottom line is execution," Calhoun coach Hal Lamb said. "We just weren't executing in the first half. We came out with a couple of new plays in the second half, but for the most part we just played better."
Quarterback Gavin Gray, after throwing a pair of interceptions in a first half that ended knotted at 14, completed 12 of 18 passes for nearly 200 yards in the third quarter. A Calhoun defense that seemed surprised early by Ridgeland's speed limited the Panthers to 44 yards in the third.
Early, though, it was Ridgeland that controlled play. After A'zavier Blackwell returned the opening kickoff to the 48, brother Jordan Blackwell took a short pass from Tanner Hill and sprinted 24 yards for a touchdown in just 1:19 of game time.
The Panthers, however, would have three of their next four drives reach the Calhoun 44, the 6 and the 15 before turnovers, penalties and negative-yardage plays killed each one. Still, after forcing a Calhoun punt late in the second quarter, Jordan Blackwell took off around right end 42 yards for a 14-7 lead.
The Jackets rode the right arm of senior Gray right back down the field, covering 77 yards in eight plays to tie the game on his 28-yard pass to Brannon Spector. Ridgeland drove right back down, with Hill spreading the ball around nicely. However, with 12 seconds left from the 10, his pass to A'zavier Blackwell, caught at the 2, was ruled down at the 1 as time expired.
The third quarter included three Calhoun touchdowns in six minutes. After Zack Fuller capped an 88-yard drive with a 5-yard run, Josh Hales sacked Hill, forcing a fumble at the 11. Fuller scored on the next play for a stunning 28-14 lead.
Following a Ridgeland three-and-out, the Jackets continued running plays at breakneck speed. Gray hit Spector for 13 yards, Rucker Reeves for 14 and Luke Moseley for a 36-yard touchdown.
"We picked up the pace in the third quarter, and that really, really helped us," Lamb said. "They got tired, and we knew once that happened we were in good shape. It also helps that we have a lot of guys we can throw it to, and we're not afraid to spread it around."
The landslide continued as Eduardo Fajardo nailed a 27-yard field goal and, one play later, Calhoun linebacker Davis Allen picked off Hill and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown and a 45-14 lead that created a running clock in the final quarter.
"We started off slowly, and we couldn't get things going offensively," said Spector, who led Calhoun's deep receiving corps with nine catches and 117 yards to go with a first-half interception. "The defense, I thought, played a heck of a game all night, and at halftime we had a little talk and got some things straightened out offensively."
Moseley added 94 yards on nine catches, while Bralin Barton had 74 yards on three receptions. For Ridgeland, Jordan Blackwell had 140 yards rushing on 14 carries and added 41 through the air, while Stephon Walker had 105 yards and a touchdown on four catches.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22