(Photos by Roger Propst)
By Roger Propst
Calhoun's Middle School Red Devils took their 3-0 record on the road to Chuck Schofield Stadium in Ellenboro Thursday night and escaped with a 12-8 win over the Trail Blazers of Ritchie Middle School.
The 1st Quarter was uneventful with Ritchie's two possessions resulting in three and out series, and the Red Devils losing the ball on downs on their only possession.
Calhoun gained possession at its own 35 after Ritchie's 2nd punt of the game in the 2nd Quarter and began a drive with runs of 10 by Zach Moore and 14 by Brandon Reed, topping it off with a 30 yard strike on a pass from Zach Moore to Aaron Yoak who took the ball at the five and bulled his way to pay dirt for a Red Devil lead of 6-0 at the 4:10 mark. The try for extra point failed and the score remained 6-0.
After Ritchie's third straight three and out series, Calhoun started its next possession it its own 30 yard line.
On the first play from scrimmage Brandon Reed sprinted around the left side on a forty yard jaunt to the Ritchie 30 yard line.
A six-yard pass to Jacob Haught and a seven-yard run by Reed was followed by a 17 yard scamper to the end zone by Zach Moore and a 12-0 lead with 34 seconds remaining in the 2nd Quarter.
The try for extra point again failed and the lead stayed at 12-0 as the half ended.
The Red Devils were unable to get untracked in the 2nd half being sidetracked by penalties and at times a fired up Ritchie defense.
The only score of the half was by Ritchie at the 3:52 mark of the 4th Quarter when the Trailblazer tailback skipped into the end zone from five yards out taking the score to 12-6 Red Devils.
A successful pass on the conversion tightened the game up 12-8.
Things got interesting when Calhoun was unable to move the ball on its next possession. Zach Moore was sacked for a 10 yard loss on the first play and two runs resulted in a 4th and eight at the 49 yard line.
The Red Devils faked a punt, but the fired up Trail Blazers would have nothing to do with that, stopping the play short of the 1st down and taking over at its own 47 with 2:00 minutes remaining.
After two runs and an incomplete pass Ritchie faced a fourth down with only 1:18 remaining. The Trailblazer quarterback dropped the ball, picked it up but was smothered by Calhoun's Drew Williams to end the threat.
Calhoun then ran the clock out by taking a knee on three consecutive downs; final score Red Devils 12, Ritchie 8.
The Red Devils travel to Flatwoods next week for a 6:00 encounter with Braxton Middle School.
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