By Don Rowe
Special to The Dispatch
CALEDONIA – “Decades of Domination – It’s Our Tradition” was the message posted on visiting New Hope’s run-through banner here Friday evening.
After watching his Confederates come up on the short end of a 49-10 non-division matchup against Lowndes County rival New Hope, Caledonia head coach Andy Crotwell admitted the Trojans, on this night anyway, dominated the game the final two-and-a-half quarters.
“Our plan was to run the ball, sustain long drives and try to control the clock,” Crotwell said. “As for New Hope, a very talented team with good schemes, their big plays on offense and special teams put us in the hole and we just didn’t get anything done in any phase of the game.
“We knew going into the game that they (New Hope) were a much-improved team from a year ago and they put pressure on us all night long.”
New Hope coach Kris Pickle was impressed his squad was able to bounce back from a one-sided loss to Columbus two weeks ago against as good an offensive team as Caledonia.
“After we got thumped 49-21, I was proud how we responded against Caledonia,” said Pickle. “The team, as a whole, answered the bell like I thought they would and I’m proud of the way they bounced back from a tough loss.”
Caledonia grabbed an early 3-0 lead on a Caleb Comer 35-yard field goal on the Confederates’ first possession when their 9-play, 63-yard march stalled at the Trojans’ 18-yard line.
But New Hope countered with a 6-yard TD plunge by Tyran Reed and a Nathan Wilson PAT kick for a 7-3 advantage with 14 seconds left in the opening quarter. Reed’s scoring effort was set up by a 42-yard kickoff return by Andre Erby and four consecutive completions for 41 yards by quarterback Thomas Stevens.
Kyree Fields blocked a Spencer Unruh punt four plays into the second quarter to give New Hope a first down at the Confederate 31 and Erby scored on a reverse on the Trojans’ first play from scrimmage. Wilson’s point after kick upped the score to 14-3 with 9:08 left before half.
Undaunted, Caledonia mounted a 10-play, 71-yard march capped by a 30-yard scoring strike from Unruh to a wide open Jamel Thomas with 4:30 left before information to pull with four points at 10-14.
That score, as things turned out, was Caledonia’s final points of the game as New Hope scored 35 unanswered points en route to its 39-point spread.
On the kickoff following Thomas’ TD reception, Erby bolted 79 yards for the first of the Trojans’ two quick, late second-quarter touchdowns and then Stevens found Erby wide open over the middle on a 37-yard TD toss with less than a minute left before halftime. Wilson’s two extra- point kicks gave the Trojans a 28-10 lead at the half.
New Hope’s onside kick to start the second half looked to backfire when Unruh hooked up with Thomas on a 54-yard touchdown one play later, but a chop block nullified the score and it was all New Hope from that point on.
A 9-play, 73-yard drive, featuring five Stevens’ pass completions good for 59 yards, ended on an 8-yard scoring toss from Stevens to Jeremy Tate to give New Hope a 35-10 lead with 7:21 left in the third period.
Then, after a change of possessions in which a Caledonia scoring threat ended on a dropped pass inside the New Hope 10 followed by a three-and-out for New Hope, the Trojans’ Devonta White picked off a tipped Unruh pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown with 3:12 left in the third quarter.
A Kobe Matthews’ fumble recovery at the Confederate 44 two plays later gave the Trojans one last shot at a score and Tony Deloach capped the 6-play drive with a 9-yard scoring run. Wilson was good on all three second-half point-after kicks.
“I think we executed really well on offense and the defense gave up some yards but didn’t break,” Pickle said.
Statistically, the final numbers didn’t reflect the final 39-point spread. Caledonia actually had four more first downs than New Hope (18-14), while the Trojans out-gained the Confederates through the air (177-127), on the ground (133-131) and in total yards (310-258).
Stevens, whose cousin Andy Stevens is the principal at Caledonia, was 16-for-21 for 177 yards with no interceptions for New Hope, while his counterpart, Unruh, was 11-of-17 for 127 yards over the first two quarters but didn’t complete a pass in the second half for Caledonia.
Seven different receivers were credited with pass receptions for the Trojans, with Tate (50 yards), Erby (41) and Rock Sanders (35) latching on to 11 passes good for 126 total yards. Zion Ford (53) and Thomas (50) finished with four receptions each for Caledonia.
Ford led all runners with 57 yards on the ground, with Reed high for New Hope with 54.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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