By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
In a game dominated by defense and personal fouls Calhoun came back in the second half to hand Wirt County an 8-6 loss keeping the Red Devils slim playoff hopes alive.
The Red Devils scored with lightning speed in the third quarter to thwart the Tigers' upset hopes.
First Connor Ritchie tackled a Wirt ball carrier in the end zone with 1:15 remaining in the third quarter then Cole Ritchie rambled 45 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage to give the Red Devils a lead they never relinquished.
But that did not mean Wirt gave up.
The Tigers had taken the lead late in the second quarter when Cameron Nelson broke loose for a 36-yard touchdown. The Tigers filed on the extra point kick making it 6-0.
Calhoun nearly tied the game before intermission as Ethyn Miller caught a Casey Ritchie pass and got deep inside Wirt territory before going out of bounds as time ran out. Overall, Miller had five receptions for 139 yards in the game.
The Tigers got the ball to begin the second half and made a couple of thrusts inside Calhoun's red zone only to have the wheels come off their offensive attack.
There was two turnovers on downs and a fumble that spoiled drives but a holding penalty against the Tigers that nullified a touchdown was the real killer.
Calhoun too had a little bit of a struggle in Wirt territory but did finish the game by running out the clock inside the Tigers' five.
The Tigers also played well on defense and at one point forced Calhoun to punt from inside its 10. However, Cole Ritchie boomed a 54-yard punt to change field position dramatically and the Red Devils never held close to its own end zone again.
Along with his punting Cole Ritchie had a strong rushing game with 137 yards in 24 carries giving him 1,033 yards on the season becoming first Red Devil to reach the 1,000-yard plateau since Randy Fluharty.
Miller, who had three of four Calhoun pass interceptions (Seth Moore had the other), caught every Red Devil pass except one but that one was a big one as Johnny Taylor hauled in a 14-yard reception on fourth down that kept a late Calhoun drive going. After his reception Casey Ritchie roared up the middle to
Wirt three where the Red Devils wee able to run out the clock.
Overall Calhoun had 346 yards total offense compared to 159 for Wirt. Nelson had 152 yards on 30 carries but the rest of the Tigers managed a meager seven yards total.
Calhoun entertains Clay County, 5-4, Friday night while on the same night Wirt travels to Frontier, Ohio.
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