CALEDONIA — Caledonia football coach Andy Crotwell wants to see his team overcome adversity in a game.
In Crotwell’s eyes, it seems that when something goes wrong, the Confederates have no way of correcting the mistakes or stopping the opposition from getting on a role and running away with the game.
That was the case Friday night. Caledonia found itself down early and a shaky first quarter led to a 41-17 loss to Houston in a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A, Region 4 game.
“I think from a mind-set standpoint, I think we’re allowing one bad play to turn into two and two to turn into three and three to turn into four,” Crotwell said.
After going three-and-out and pinning the Hilltoppers at their own 36 yard line, the Confederate defense couldn’t stop the first play. On Houston’s first play from scrimmage, Jalon Gates scored a 64-yard touchdown. He bust through the Confederate defense line, avoided a linebacker and outran the secondary on his way to the end zone to give the Hilltoppers a 6-0 lead with 10 minutes, 17 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
That was the kind of play Crotwell was talking about and he said the first touchdown put them in a hole.
“I think that it maybe made us a little unsure,” Crotwell said. “I don’t know what our mind-set was there. I know we had a guy responsible for every gap there and it just popped.”
The Confederates (3-3, 0-1 region) took their time on the next offensive possession. But all their hard work led to a 20-yard Caleb Comer Field goal to cut the lead to 6-3 with 3:59 left in the first.
After Johnta Walker recovered a fumble in the end zone to push the lead to 13-3, the Hilltoppers (6-1, 1-0) scored on their next two first half possessions. Quarterback Urriah Shephard scored two touchdowns in the second quarter (1 yard and 11 yards) to give the Hilltoppers a 27-3 lead at halftime.
Caledonia senior cornerback Jamel Thomas, who had a game-high six catches for 64 yards, praised Houston’s offense. Playing both offense and defense wore him down, but he said the defense didn’t do the things they needed to.
“We didn’t play assignment football,” Thomas said. “We had a good week of practice. Everything we ran was good, but I guess it’s different in a game.
“You just have to keep your head up and play the next play. You just have to get your team on your side and do work together.”
The Hilltoppers had 297 yards rushing on 28 carries. Gates had a game-high 157 yards on eight carries. Shephard, who was 4 of 6 for 70 yards, had 85 yards rushing on 12 carries. Bobby Townsend had 23 yards on four carries.
Crotwell said the Confederates hadn’t struggled stopping the run in the first five games. He gave credit to the Hilltopper offensive line and said it was the best rushing attack they have faced this season.
“I think that their speed definitely had an affect on us,” Crotwell said. “They’re a tremendous football team, they have a lot of guys that can really run and we struggled with that. I think that the speed that they presented made us a little uncomfortable and a little unsure of whether or not us playing our assignment would in fact get the job done.”
The Hilltoppers scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to institute a running clock. Zykiel Virges scored a 12-yard touchdown and Shephard hit Taylor Baskin for a 38-yard touchdown.
Aided by the running clock, the Confederate defense played better in the second half.
“I think there in the second half we did a better job of playing the run the way we needed to play it at times,” Crotwell said. “When we played good assignment football, we were able to stop them.”
Caledonia quarterback Spencer Unruh, who was 14 of 28 for 168 yards and an interception and 31 yards rushing on 12 carries, hit Graham Weseli for a 14-yard touchdown in the third and Zion Ford for a 20-yard touchdown as the game ended. Ford had 48 yards rushing on 10 carries and four catches for 57 yards.
Although he was disappointed in the outcome and how his team let one big play turn set the tone, Crotwell said he was ready to get on the practice fields Monday to make corrections.
“We’ve got to come back Monday and have a new fresh attitude and tackle it all over again,” Crotwell said. “I think you have to erase it from your memory and commit yourself to executing your assignment and your responsibility as best you can, whether that’s up front on the defensive line, or a linebacker or in the secondary.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.