Safety pushes Calhoun to Georgia semifinals

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Calhoun 19, Elbert County 17Star: Jireh Wilson. The junior and his linebacker mates held Elbert County star Mecole Hardman to 34 yards in Calhoun's GHSA Class AAA quarterfinal win.Up next: Calhoun will host Westminster in next Friday's semifinal round.

CALHOUN, Ga. - Nine times out of 10, Hal Lamb would have followed his aggressive nature and gone for it. However, the Calhoun High School football coach's gut said caution was the way to go this time.

The gut won out -- a day after Thanksgiving, no less -- and so did his Yellow Jackets. A late safety, set up by Lamb's decision to punt, helped pull out a 19-17 win over Elbert County in the GHSA Class AAA quarterfinals.

"I wanted to go for it, but I didn't feel good about the way we were running the ball tonight," Lamb said of the decision to kick the ball away on fourth-and-1 at the Elbert 42 with two minutes left in a tie game. "We didn't run it well, we didn't throw it well and we didn't block well, so we decided to let the defense go to work."

And work it did. Darwin Lom's punt hit at the Elbert 10, took a Calhoun roll and was downed at the 1. On the next play Mecole Hardman, shaken up a few minutes earlier, mishandled the snap, picked it up and tried to beat a horde of Jackets defenders to the edge. He didn't make it.

Ethan Woodard caught him for the safety just as he was about to escape.

"Landon (Rice) forced him outside and Ethan just came up and made a good play," said linebacker Jireh Wilson, part of a swarming defense that allowed just over 100 total yards in the second half. "We were a little worried, but this team's motto is 'Next Play.' They made a big play on us, but we won the next play and that's what mattered."

Elbert's big play came just a few minutes earlier when, facing second-and-10 from his team's 17, Hardman hit Tra Barnett in stride at the 40 and the speedy receiver outraced the Calhoun secondary to the end zone. That tied the game at 17 with just under five minutes left.

The Calhoun defense had controlled play in the second half after a first half in which the Blue Devils (9-4) controlled much of the action.

While Hardman, who had more than 400 yards rushing in Elbert County's two playoff wins, was held to 34 yards on 18 carries, his big-play passing and the hard running of Rantious Reed gave the Blue Devils a 197-to-148 yardage edge in the first half. They took advantage of two first-half Calhoun turnovers to get short fields and capitalized with 10 points, with Hardman's 6-yard run giving the visitors a 10-7 lead just before halftime.

Calhoun quarterback Kaelen Riley struggled with accuracy most of the night but completed a 21-yard pass to Carson Brown to set up Alex Flores' 30-yard field goal on the half's final play, tying the game at 10.

"I still can't believe how we struggled tonight, but Elbert had a lot to do with that," Lamb said. "It looked bad all night, but our kids found a way to win a football game."

Riley, in negative yards rushing in the first half, had 39 yards on three carries on Calhoun's second possession of the third quarter, capping the 75-yard drive with a 13-yard run and a 17-10 lead. And the Jackets held Elbert without a first down until Hardman connected with Barnett for the stunning tying score.

Moments later Lamb's gut call helped save the day.

"The defense won this game for us, do doubt," said Riley, who threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles but ran for 83 yards and threw for 161. "I don't think defensively they were doing anything special against us.

"It was just bad play on my part because I didn't take care of the football. That's the only reason the game was as close as it was. That's a good Elbert County football team, but if I don't turn the ball over we win by a comfortable margin."

Cole Jackson had 87 yards on 19 carries to lead Calhoun, with Brown adding five catches for 106 yards, including the game's first score on a 48-yard screen pass. Reed led Elbert with 75 yards on 15 carries.

Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.

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