By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
Ah, football, King Football is finally here.
The start of the football season marks the beginning of the end of the long,
hot summer. Oh, summer is far from gone but by the fifth game the days will
be shorter and the nights will be cooler and the hillsides will be starting
their spectacular show of colors.
But enough waxing poetic. let's talk football. More specifically Calhoun
High School football where the season gets under way tonight when Gilmer
travels to Mount Zion.
How will the Red Devils do?
If they beat whom they should beat and lose to those they should lose to -
talent-wise that is - they will go 5-5. But in about four of those games the
talent is so close that they could go either way.
Calhoun has an eclectic group with a nice balance of experience and talented
youth.
The Red Devils start five seniors on the offense and six on defense, but
five of those defensive starters are also the same ones who start on
offense.
On the other side of the coin the Red Devils also start four sophomores on
offense and defense, but two of those - Zac Yeager and Caleb Hart - were in
the starting lineup last year.
How will this talent work?
Justin Price is gone. He was all everything last year and had 1798 yards
rushing and scored 184 points. On top of all those offensive numbers he was
a tremendous defensive player and was named all state as a defender. He is
now plying his wares at Fairmont State.
Who will replace Price?
Seniors Paul Goodrich and Chad Conley are penciled in as the starting
running backs and either one or both of them may have their sights on
becoming Calhoun's 15th 1,000-yard back in the past 25 years.
Handing the ball off to them will be quarterback Matt Houchin. Although only
a sophomore Houchin played some last year as a freshman and was a two-year
starter for the middle school.
They will operate behind a line that includes three starters from last
year - Hart, Yeager and senior Justin Whipkey. Juniors Matt Whipkey and
Stephen Wagoner will join them.
The ends are Steven Cunningham and Jeff Goodrich while Michael Sullivan will
work as the flanker.
Defensively Justin Ramsey replaces Matt Whipkey in the lineup while the
other 10 players will go both ways.
Other players expected to see significant action include seniors Tyler
Shartiger, who is Calhoun's deep receiving threat, Jason Cunningham, who
plays both ways and juniors Caleb Ball, Eddie Burrows, Cody Cottrell and
Jake Wagoner.
Since the Red Devils are small in numbers, with only 29 players on the team,
several sophomores and freshmen could also see significant playing time.
So how will the Red Devils do?
The last four years I have been fond of saying, "they'll win the first three
then reality sits in" and that is pretty accurate this season too.
Calhoun opens with Gilmer. Calhoun has absolutely killed Gilmer the last
three seasons and any kind of struggle against the Titans may not bode well
for the future.
Then Calhoun goes up against a struggling Ritchie County program and an
up-and-down Doddridge County team.
Then comes Clay County and reality.
Calhoun has won one game against Clay and that came three years ago when the
Red Devils finally broke into the win column against the Panthers. Since
then the teams have reverted to form and Clay's talent and speed has been
too much.
Should the Red Devils win this year it would be the start of something big,
but once again the Panthers appear to be the Red Devils' test of manhood.
And, the tough part of it is, Clay County starts a four-game stretch of very
tough teams - Williamstown, Wahama and Roane.
On talent alone Calhoun may be 3-4 after the Roane game. Anything better and
the Red Devils may be looking for their first playoff spot since 1983.
Following that stretch the Red Devils face Wirt (they should win), Braxton
(they should lose) and St. Marys (they should win).
That would make Calhoun 5-5 but that projection is based on talent alone, talent on paper at that.
But the games are won on the field not on paper and the football has pointed
ends and takes funny bounces.
And that's what makes football king.
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