CALEDONIA — The Caledonia High School football team, which broke an 11-game losing streak last week with a victory against West Lowndes, ran into a triple-edged sword here Friday as the Aberdeen Bulldogs posted a 44-22 win.
Senior quarterback Fred Fields was 11-for-12 passing for 163 yards and two touchdowns to help the Bulldogs improve to 2-0. Fields also had nine carries for 54 yards two more touchdowns and two two-point conversions.
Fellow senior Brandan Williams had 17 carries for 141 yards and a touchdown and a two-point conversion, while sophomore Tae Johnson was on the receiving end of six of Fields’ 11 completions for 106 yards.
In all, Aberdeen gained 375 yards.
“Defensively, we weren’t all that bad for a quarter and a half, but after that we were not very good on defense,” Caledonia’s first-year head coach Michael Kelly said. “I didn’t have the team ready to play, and that’s on me because defense is what I hang my hat on.
“We’ve got to work hard every day at practice and we’ve got to learn our keys. That said, as a team we’ve got to do a better job performing, and I’ve got to do a better coaching job and you can quote me on that.”
Caledonia’s rushing defense was spot on in the first half as it thwarted a two-point conversion run and limited the Bulldogs to 22 yards on eight carries, 16 of which came on Field’s touchdown run with a little more than two minutes gone in the first quarter after the Bulldogs recovered a pooch kick at the Confederate 33-yard line on the opening kickoff.
Caledonia’ passing defense also had a good first quarter and a half, as it allowed only five completions for 39 yards. But with 7 minutes, 28 seconds left in the second quarter, Fields connected on a 56-yard scoring strike to Johnson, who was wide open in the secondary.
Fields’ two-point conversion run pushed the Bulldgs up 14-7 to erase the Confederates’ only lead of the game when quarterback Brandon Edmondson hooked up with wide receiver JeDarius Gore on a 9-yard touchdown toss two minutes earlier.
A pair of three-and-outs by both teams set up Aberdeen’s third and final score of the first half, a 75-yard interception return by C.J. Arnold and a two-point conversion run by Fields.
“Two turnovers, the one on the opening kickoff and then the interception return for a touchdown just before halftime, accounted for 14 of their 22 points at the half,” Kelly said. “Those were crucial.”
Two big Aberdeen scoring plays followed by a pair of two-point conversion runs in the third quarter pushed the Confederates’ deficit to 38-7, the first of which came on a 33-yard touchdown toss from Fields to senior wide receiver Jaquan Jones and the second of which was credited to Williams on a 42-yard sprint untouched straight up the middle.
Caledonia answered on its ensuing possession with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Edmondson to Gore and a two-point conversion run Kelvin Robinson to make it a 38-15 with 10:56 left in the fourth quarter.
Undaunted, Aberdeen made it 44-15 on its next possession when Fields scored on a 4-yard run with a little less than six minutes to play.
A seven-play, 50-yard Caledonia drive culminated in a 10-yard scoring jaunt by Williams with 1:23 left. Rollins added the kick to account for the final margin.
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