Peach County-Calhoun 2018 has nothing to do with Peach County-Calhoun 2017, except history
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
A win is a win.
It’s not revenge, and it’s not justification.
It’s merely a great victory over a major program for a Tuesday afternoon date to play for a state championship.
That’s all the GHSA Class 3A semifinal between Peach County and Calhoun comes down to: survive and advance.
"We're business as usual," Calhoun head coach Hal Lamb told the Calhoun Times/Northwest Georgia News. "We haven't talked much about last year's game at all. I told our players that the team that doesn't listen to all the hoopla and shenanigans is likely to win. It's a football game and nothing more."
Same tune, different verse from Chad Campbell.
“You’ve got to leave that (crap) alone,” the Peach County head coach said. “It’s mental right now, more than physical. Just making sure you prepare.”
The past, in reality, has nothing to do with the present.
“We didn’t play well last year,” Campbell said of the 10-6 championship loss. “Didn’t play well at all. Defensively played good. Offensivelly, we didn’t play worth a flip.”
The Trojans survived some fumbles that weren’t called and a generally sluggish offensive day to stay close because the Yellow Jackets weren’t any better on offense and were about as good on defense.
Peach County had one more first down. Calhoun rushed for 65 yards, Peach County for nine. The Yellow Jackets were 13 of 26 for 158 yrads passing to 16 of 26 for 170 yards for Peach County, which threw two interceptions.
Calhoun ran one more play, gained 12 fewer yards, and had seven more penalties.
The difference? Brannon Spector’s 45-yard interception return for a touchdown with 23 seconds left in the half.
Spector is back, along with about six other starters on defense and about seven on offense.
“They look like what they’ve looked like for years,” Campbell said. “Very well balanced offensively. A lot of formations defensively. “Same group of kids, except they have four new guys on defense. What they do is what they do.”
Zack Fuller returns in the backfield, and ran for 156 yards on 35 carries in last week’s 24-12 win over Jenkins. Quarterback Gavin Gray returns, as do his favorite targets. Spector is one of five pass-catching seniors, leading the way with 704 yards on 44 catches to go with Fuller’s 1,000-yard rushing season.
The Yellow Jackets are giving up about five fewer points a game than last year, although the 2017 schedule was tougher.
“Their defense is very similar to what it was last yr,” Campbell said. “They got everybody back in the secondary and two of three linebackers back.”
Spector leads the secondary, and linebacker Davis Allen leads the defense with 106 tackles.
Peach County has a new quarterback, junior first-year starter Jaydon Gibson, who is completing 72.1 percent of his passes for 2,080 yards, 18 touchdowns, and only five interceptions on 219 attempts.
“I think he’s probably exceeded everybody’s expectations in what he’s done,” Campbell said. “He’s made some bonehead plays, but he’s also played well. First-year starter, he’s done very well.”
He played wideout last year as backup, and was 21 of 24 for 189 yards. Antonio Gilbert passed for 3,193 yards en route to a career of 6,869 yards, including 2,877 in his first year as a starter as a junior.
The Trojans broke in mostly new players at most of the skill positions, going with running back by committee. Noah Whittington, a junior at the center of last year’s controversial play with 3:33 left in the game, is third in rushing with 435 yards and second with 10 touchdowns, and fourth in receiving with 22 catches for 222 yards and three touchdowns.
The experienced offensive line finally found its groove midway through the season. The defensive line is solid and deep, with Cedric Hillsman, Jamir Best, Bryson Dent, Jaqualin McGhee, Quintell Jones, Josh Dickson, and Bryce McQuire.
The defense made some tweaks after injuries to linebackers, and a mostly new secondary is playing with more consistency and confidence. Junior linebacker Sergio Allen, a Clemson commit, leads with 105 tackles.
"They are as good or even better on defense," Lamb told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. "We didn't score much last year, just (offensive) three points, so that concerns me the most.”
Both coaches have worked to keep their teams’ collective minds on Friday, not 2017, since last year was last year.
“All we have to worry about is playing a great game,” Lamb told the Calhoun Times. “Because if we don’t play a great game, one that is up to our standards on offensively and defensively, its going to be a long night for us. But if we do play our brand of football, we should be in a good spot to win.”
Campbell has the same outlook.
“You want to be more focused because of where you’re at, what you’re playing for,” he said. “Your mental aspect right now, it’s 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical.”