CALEDONIA — Daily improvement has been a key for Andy Crotwell ever since he took over as head coach of the Caledonia High School football team.
That mind-set has helped the Confederates develop a reputation as a hard-working group that doesn’t quit.
This season, buoyed by a 28-player senior class, the Confederates are on the verge of securing a second playoff berth in Crotwell’s fourth season. Caledonia (4-4, 1-2 Class 4A, Region 4) will get its first chance to realize that goal at 7 tonight when it plays host to two-time reigning Class 4A champion Noxubee County (5-4, 3-0) on Senior Night.
Caledonia needs a win tonight or next week at Leake Central to clinch a playoff spot and a return trip to the postseason after a one-year absence.
“We have a senior-laden group that has been through this process before,” Crotwell said. “A lot of those guys were contributors then and understood the process of preparing every day and playing hard regardless of the situation and taking things one snap at a time.”
Caledonia is coming off a 31-14 victory at Kosciusko. The Confederates used a balanced passing and running attack to give them control of their destiny.
Crotwell praised the play of offensive linemen Logan Canerdy, Floyd Pickens, Colby Ponds, Tristan Gardner, and Ragan Robinson, tight end Russ Smither, and H-back Chace Pennington for helping Caledonia achieve that balance. He feels experience will be instrumental in keeping the team focused on what it has to do to realize its goal.
“We continue to become a more and more efficient football team,” Crotwell said. “My hope and expectation is that that continues.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @cdispatch.com
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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