The Caledonia High School football team’s 13-game losing streak against New Hope came to an end Friday evening thanks to a 44-28 victory that spoiled Homecoming festivities for the home team.
The annual Lowndes County rivalry has been decidedly in New Hope’s favor the past 30 years, as Caledonia’s win was only its third in that same time span, according to New Hope officials. The Confederates’ last win in the series was in 2004.
“I remember the first day I was hired, I had about eight seniors come to me and say, ‘Coach, I know this is going to sound real bad, but we want to win a lot of games, but we want to beat New Hope,’ ” Caledonia first-year head coach Michael Kelly said. “We put a lot of hard work into this.”
Caledonia built a 10-0 lead on its first two possessions with less than five minutes gone in the first quarter, a lead it maintained after two quarters (17-7).
Both teams’ scoring prowess picked up in the second half, but the Trojans, despite several opportunities to close the gap, never could catch up in a game marred by calls by the officials both coaches questioned, issues with time running off the clock, 23 penalties against both teams, and no less than 14 fumbles — four of which were lost — and five muffed kickoffs.
It took Caledonia a little less than a minute and a half into the game to dent the scoring column after a 48-yard kickoff return by Anthony Triplett gave his offense a first down at the New Hope 31-yard line. Two plays later, his 13-yard run followed by a 14-yard pickup by JeDarius Gore set up a 2-yard touchdown plunge by Darrius Triplett. Wes Rollins added the point after and the visitors had a 7-0 lead with 10 minutes, 27 seconds left on the clock.
Two plays into New Hope’s first possession, the Trojans coughed the ball up at the 31 and it was returned to the 10. Three false start penalties and a dropped pass kept the Confederates out of the end zone, so Rollins came in to boot a 24-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead with 7:45 remaining in the first period.
New Hope responded with a nine-play drive that reached the Caledonia 33, but quarterback Ryan Burt was sacked for a 10-yard loss on a fourth-and-4.
Caledonia picked up 19 yards on three running plays, but linebacker Rye McGlothin stripped the ball from a running back and Immanuel Jones’ fumble recovery gave the ball back to the Trojans at their 40.
Braylen Miller’s first-down 64-yard dash to the end zone brought the home crowd to its feet, but New Hope was flagged for a holding penalty. Two plays later, disaster struck again as Caledonia recovered a second fumble at the 30 on what the New Hope faithful considered a dropped forward pass.
A 4-yard loss on first down pushed the ball back to the New Hope 34, but Gore’s 34-yard dash to the end zone and Rollins’ kick made it 17-0 with a little more than a minute gone in the second quarter.
De’ajon Miller’s 19-yard kickoff return set the Trojans up with a first down near midfield and Braylen Miller’s 25-yard scamper moved the ball to the Caledonia 29. But three running plays netted only 7 yards and the drive ended when Burt’s pass went off the hands of a receiver in the end zone.
New Hope’s defense came up with a three-and-out on Caledonia’s ensuing possession and its offense finally broke into the scoring column on a three-play, 50-yard march capped by a 6-yard touchdown run by Ty Hairston. Ben Bradley’s point-after kick with 4:57 left before half made it 17-7.
Caledonia got off to a quick start in the third quarter after a low snap on a fourth-down New Hope punt attempt resulted in a 14-yard loss and gave the Confederates a first down at the Trojan 28. A 5-yard false start penalty backed Caledonia up to the 33, but two plays later Gore ran it in from 32 yards out and Rollins’ kick made it 24-7.
Undaunted, New Hope responded with a 51-yard pickup on a great run by Kobe Matthews, a 14-yard pass completion from Burt to Trey Bailey, and a 5-yard touchdown run by Braylen Miller. Bradley’s kick cut it to 24-14.
Caledonia’s next possession resulted in a fourth-down punt that was downed at the New Hope 1, but another controversial call resulted in a touchdown. After an incomplete pass on first down, a New Hope runner’s forward progress appeared to have been stopped after no gain, but no one whistled the play dead and the ball was fumbled and then recovered for a touchdown by Caledonia’s A.J. Johnson. Rollins then added his fourth kick to make it 31-14 with 4:39 left in the third quarter.
Taking over at the 20 after a touchback on the kickoff, New Hope made it 31-21 12 seconds later when Braylen Miller bolted 80 yards on a straight dive play and Bradley converted the kick.
Yet another controversial call gave Caledonia the ball back after a three-and-out series on its ensuing possession when Matthews appeared to have picked up a first down on a fourth-and-4 when the ball was originally spotted at the Caledonia 41. But the referee moved the ball back, not once but twice, and the Trojans’ bid for a first down fell short on the first play of the fourth period.
Caledonia then mounted a nine-play, 62-yard march to increase its lead. The key play in the drive was a 31-yard keeper by quarterback Brandon Edmondson that gave the Confederates a first-and-goal at the 2. A false start penalty moved the ball back to the 7, but Gore scored his third touchdown on the next play. Rollins’ kick made it a 38-21 with 6:44 left.
New Hope went to its passing game and crawled back to within 10 on its next series with three completions good for 30 yards followed by a 19-yard pickup by Burt and another 19-yard gainer by Braylen Miller that gave the Trojans a first-and-goal at the 6. A 12-yard loss after a low snap from center pushed the ball out to the 18, but Burt hit Kryshone Brooks in the end zone for the score. Bradley then kicked his fourth PAT conversion.
New Hope’s onside attempt was covered by Caledonia at its 46. After five short runs and a 5-yard false start penalty, Edmondson’s 43-yard touchdown scamper with 1:32 left capped the scoring for the winners.
“It’s good to get back into the win column,” Kelly said. “I saw a lot of better execution tonight on both sides of the ball. We have to clean up a few mistakes, and we had way too many penalties, but I am so proud of our kids. We beat our archrival and we are county champs (thanks to a victory against West Lowndes in the season opener).”
New Hope racked up 418 yards to 282 yards for Caledonia — all of which came on the ground as the Confederates attempted just two passes, neither of which were completed. New Hope’s ground attack accounted for 301 yards on 35 carries, an average of 8.6 yards per try.
New Hope had 19 first downs to 11 for Caledonia, which was penalized 17 times for 120 yards and had one ejection. New Hope was flagged six times for 65 yards, but had 10 fumbles — most coming on low snaps from center. Three of the 10 were turnovers.
“Offensively, we moved the ball all over the field but we didn’t do enough to win,” New Hope first-year head coach Wade Tackett said. “Defensively we played solid, but we had some things go against us. We are a young team and overall, we’ve still got to clean up some areas but we are getting better.”
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