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Published: Dec 03, 2008 - 03:28:36 pm CST
Instant Classic: Wildcats dethrone defending champs By Adam GoreMonitor-Herald CALHOUN CITY - It has been a magical season for Calhoun City and it's not over yet. Jarvis Rounds scored on an one-yard run and added the two-point conversion to help lead the unranked Wildcats past second ranked Ray Brooks 20-12 to claim the school's first ever 1A North State Championship and earn a spot in tomorrow's 1A State Championship game. Ray Brooks' Devoris Hunt scored on an 8-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 12-12 with 5:41 left in the fourth quarter, but Calhoun City answered with another season defining drive. Demarius Howard set things up for the Cats with a 51-yard kickoff return to the Tigers 37-yard line. "Ray Brooks had gotten momentum on their side and scored that touchdown to tie the game, but when Demarius got the big run back that got momentum back on our side to be able to make the drive to take the time off the clock and score at the end," said Coach Mike Ray. City drove thirty-seven yards in five-minutes and eleven-seconds with every inch of the final drive coming up the middle charging right at the heart of the Tiger defense. "We saw in scouting that their speed was too much to try to get outside on them especially on a wet track like tonight," Ray said. "We talked as a staff on Sunday that we were going to have patience, we were going to pound on them, and we were going to grind out to see what happens." What happened was Rounds, Kent Stafford, and the offensive line forcing the Tiger defense back to their own one-yard line before taking a 18-12 lead when Rounds leaped into the end zone with thirty-seconds left in the ballgame. "The offensive line was blocking their tails off and it made it real easy for us to run the ball - they deserve a lot of credit because people doubted them since they were so young, but they have worked hard to get better and mature a lot this season," said senior running back Jarvis Rounds. Rounds ensured overtime by adding the two-point conversion, but the City defense secured the win by tackling the Ray Brooks quarterback inbounds forcing the Tigers to watch time run out on a return trip to Jackson after burning their final timeout earlier in the quarter. "They made plays and our defense made plays when we had to," Ray. "That was a great ball club we beat. They played us tooth and nail." Calhoun City broke open a scoreless game on a three-yard run at the 9:11 mark of the third quarter after freshman lineman Marcquez Jones returned an interception 61 yards to the Tiger three-yard line. "I was cringing the whole time thinking (Ireland) was going to run him down and strip the football, but he has played running back for us before so he knew what to do with the ball. I wish he could have score, but it set up a score and really got us going," Ray said. Jones also added three tackles for a loss on the night. "Last week he had an awful ballgame and we told him he had to step it up because we had another kid that wanted to get in there and play," Ray said. "He responded well tonight playing lights-out for us." Rounds scored his second touchdown on an eighteen-yard run with 8:04 left in the fourth before finishing with 122 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries. J.R. Jennings hit four different receivers on the night finishing with 68 yards passing with one interception on four of ten passing -- Colby Hamilton 12 yards, Brandon Lawrence 17, Howard 18, and Tae Lawrence added 21 yards receiving. Brandon Lawrence finished with 40 yards on four carries with the bulk of his yards coming on a 33-yard run on a fourth-and-two fake punt while Stafford added 46 yards on 10 carries. City finished with 268 yards of total offense. The Wildcats defense was equally impressive doing something other teams had not been able to do all season long - keep Devarcus Ireland out of the end zone. Ireland had rushed for over 1,600 yards and 23 touchdowns coming into the North State Championship game, but the Cats kept him contained rushing for 126 yards with his only score coming on a 97-yard fumble return early in the fourth quarter. Brandon Lawrence, Jones, and Howard each had an interception as the Tigers finished with 165 yards of total offense -- no yards coming via the pass. The loss snapped the Tigers 23-game win streak as they finished 12-1 on the season while Calhoun City improves to 11-2 with one more game to play against the Puckett Wolves in the 1A State Championship. Introducing the Puckett Wolves Puckett (13-0) defeated region rival Mt. Olive 28-12 to advance to the state championship game against the Wildcats, but who are the Wolves? Puckett has compiled an overly impressive record of fifty-five wins and two losses since missing the playoffs in 2004 with a 6-4 record and have a record of 206 wins and 103 losses along with two state championships since the beginning of the MHSAA State Championship Era. In 2002, the Wolves defeated the Weir Lions 21-20 to claim their first ever football state championship and in 2006, defeated East Webster 38-20 for the 1A Championship. The Wolves have been riding a season of motivation trying to redeem themselves from last seasons 34-21 loss in the 1A State Championship to Ray Brooks. On offense Coach Jaris Patrick returns most of his offensive line from last season, but lost starting running back Matthew Willis and quarterback Bobby Williams to graduation, but much like Calhoun City, the Wolves don't rebuild they reload. Junior running back Jeremy Palmer has filled in nicely rushing for over 2,000 yards this season, but suffered a bruised thigh in the South State Championship game. Antwon Rawls replaced Palmer and the run-heavy offense didn't miss a beat as Rawls put the game away with a late touchdown run. Defensively the Wolves lost anchoring linebacker Jonathan Cameron to graduation, but Rawls and Christian Holmes have combined to pickup the slack for the Gulf Coast signee. Josh Chatman has been a beast up front for Puckett as Coach Patrick feels the 2008 version of the Wolves are much better defensively than last season. 2008 Season Pisgah 55-0 (W) Stringer 27-7 (W) West Lincoln 42-3 (W) Mt. Olive 43-27 (W) St. Aloysius 35-7 (W) Bogue Chitto 61-12 (W) Cathedral 57-14 (W) Dexter 46-6 (W) Salem 61-6 (W) Pelahatchie 48-7 (W) Nanih Waiya 52-0 (W) Stringer 35-13 (W) Mt. Olive 28-12 (W) Compare and Contrast 1A State Championship - 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Mississippi Memorial Stadium - Jackson, MS. TV: Saturday at 2:30 p.m. - Mississippi Public Broadcasting Radio: TBA - check goresports.wordpress.com for more information. Calhoun City Wildcats n Number Three seed from Region 1-1A n Overall Record: 11-2 n Region Record: 8-2 n Points scored: 472 n Points allowed: 157 n Winning streak: 8 games n Region Championships: 14 n Region Runner-Ups: 5 n Playoff Appearances: 22 (10th straight appearance) n State Championship Appearances: 7 n State Championships: 1 (1989 - 28-14 over Bay Springs) n Coach Mike Ray - 14th season at Calhoun City (134-44-1) Puckett Wolves n Number One seed from Region 4-1A n Overall Record: 13-0 n Region Record 10-0 n Points scored: 590 n Points allowed: 114 n Winning streak: 13 games n Region Championships: 10 n Region Runner-Ups: 3 n Playoff Appearances: 11 (4th straight appearance) n State Championship Appearances: 4 n State Championships: 2 (2002, 2006) n Coach Jaris Patrick - 5th seasons at Puckett (60-7) Other Notes This will be the first meeting between the two programs and both schools will move up to the 2A ranks in next season. It will be the first time Puckett will play in the 2A ranks while Calhoun City will move back into the classification after being reclassified to 1A in the 2007 season. Puckett will be making their third straight 1A State Championship appearance while the Wildcats will play for their first ever 1A Championship. Calhoun City has finished with ten or more wins for seven straight seasons.
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