By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
Save for a couple of plays Calhoun should have been ahead of fifth-ranked and unbeaten St. Marys at halftime.
Unfortunately there are two halves in high school football and in the second half Calhoun made the mistakes it could not make against a team such as St. Marys and the result was a 54-18 loss by the Red Devils Friday night at Mount Zion.
After fighting its way to a 14-6 halftime lead St. Marys scored four quick touchdowns in the third quarter to pull away. These touchdowns by the purple clad Blue Devils came as Calhoun lost three fumbles and had one pass intercepted along with getting nailed with a couple of crucial penalties.
And all this happened despite the Red Devils hanging a couple of scores on the Blue Devils.
The 18 points Calhoun scored were the most allowed by St. Marys this season and Calhoun should have had more as Calhoun had 293 yards total offense and an 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Cole Ritchie led the Red Devils with 167 yards on 17 carries. Seth Moore added 69 yards on eight carries and Casey Ritchie had 18 on 11 attempts. Casey Ritchie also passed for 39 yards with Miller grabbing all three of the completions.
While the errors in the second half were not what Calhoun needed the Red Devils played nearly flawless ball in the first half and had the powerful Blue Devils reeling most of the way.
Calhoun scored first as its offensive line dominated the Blue Devils' defensive line opening the way for big running plays by the Red Devils.
The biggest in that opening touchdown drive for the Red Devils was Cole Ritchie's 27-yard scoring run. Although the Red Devils missed the extra point attempt Calhoun was on top 6-0 midway through the first quarter.
St. Marys answered that moments later on a drive that was aided by a couple of fouls on Calhoun. Brett Fetty scored the touchdown for the Blue Devils on a six yard run and Ty Lemley's extra point kick gave them a lead they would never relinquish.
But it almost wasn't that way as Calhoun roared down the field later on and had a first down near the 10 yard line. But four plays failed to get the touchdown and St. Marys held the close lead.
The Blue Devils took advantage of a couple more penalties to keep a drive alive that culminated in Brandon Barnett's one-yard touchdown with :14.5 remaining before intermission. That score gave St. Marys a 14-6 halftime lead and the game was very much in doubt.
But in the third quarter Calhoun miscues and St. Marys' passing attack - the Blue Devils had two passing touchdowns - and another short scoring run by Barnhart gave St. Marys a 34-6 lead leaving the only question as to what the final score would be.
The Red Devils did not play dead and Ethyn Miller scored on a nine-yard pass from Casey Ritchie to make it 34-12.
St. Marys answered quickly on a one-play drive as Fetty went 52 yards for the score with 16.3 remaining in the third period.
Calhoun answered on the ensuing kickoff as Miller went 87 yards for the score with 2.3 left in the period.
The Blue Devils added a couple of touchdowns in the fourth period to set the final score before calling off the dogs for the last couple of minutes.
Calhoun, 4-3. returns to the road for a game at 12th-ranked Tug Valley, 5-2, next Friday night.
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