CALHOUN, Ga. -- On a night when its usually potent offense was held in check, an often overlooked aspect of football carried the Calhoun Yellow Jackets into the GHSA Class AA quarterfinals.
Sophomore Hunter Knight blocked three consecutive punts, Adam Griffith kicked three field goals and Da'Rick Rogers scored four touchdowns -- one on a scintillating 95-yard kickoff return -- as Calhoun downed North Oconee 39-14 at Phil Reeve Stadium.
Calhoun (12-0) will play Jefferson County next Friday. A coin flip today will decide the location since each team is a No. 1 seed.
It took only a few minutes for the special teams to start making a difference Friday. Knight blocked Taylor Maxie's punt at the North Oconee 12 and Rogers, who scored four different ways, capped the short drive with a 4-yard run from the wildcat formation just 4:45 into the game.
The Titans (8-4) flexed some muscle to tie the game on their next drive, using the quick feet of Brandon Whitlock to move 78 yards in eight plays. The tie lasted all of 21 seconds as Rogers, a University of Georgia signee, weaved his way to the end zone behind a bevy of blockers.
"Our special teams are grreat," Rogers said. "We changed them up with a new blocking scheme on the kickoff returns, and it paid off. I've got to give it all to my blockers. They set it up and broke it open for me."
Moments later Knight broke up the middle and blocked his second punt, with Rogers recovering the loose ball in the North Oconee end zone for a 21-7 lead. Four plays later it was 23-7 as Knight completed his block hat trick, the ball rolling out of the end zone for a safety.
"We knew they didn't have a lot of blockers up the middle, and we took advantage of it," Knight said. "Caden Parker led the way and cleared the path for me, and I just went in amd blocked them. We were trying to confuse them by moving around a lot, and it worked."
The blocked kicks skewed the early offensive numbers as the Titans ran 24 first-period plays to four for the Jackets. The Calhoun offense didn't get clicking until late as senior quarterback Nash Nance (17-of-21 for 181 yards) started finding his receivers against tight man-to-man coverage. Three long drives ended with Griffith field goals, the first from 50 yards.
Rogers, who had seven catches for 81 yards, completed his night with a 34-yard touchdown pass from David Collins, who had taken a lateral from Nance to start the play at the end of the third quarter.
Still, the special teams earned most of the praise from Calhoun coach Hal Lamb.
"Special teams are a big part of our program," he said. "Coach (Tommy) Hoblitzell is in charge of the punt block team, and he has them working hard every week. On the kickoff returns, I can't understand why they keep kicking to Da'Rick, but I hope they keep it up. It was a big night for us special-team wise. I can't say enough about Hunter Knight. He's not the biggest person on this team, but he has the biggest heart.
"I really wasn't pleased with our offense at first. We couldn't get in a rhythm because we didn't have the ball much. ... I just know there are eight teams left and we're one of them."
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