The Callaway Cavaliers hosted and beat the undefeated Morgan County Bulldogs 33-26 Friday to close the regular season on an eight-game win streak and capture a third consecutive region title. The Cavs are 7-2, 5-0 in Region 2 and move up two spots to No. 4 in the rankings, while dropping Morgan County to 9-1, 4-1 and down three spots to No. 5.
“This was two really good teams with tradition that expected to win,” Cavs coach Pete Wiggins said. “We felt that, in the fourth quarter, we had some momentum swings that went our way. I fell like that helped us get the win. We talked about being physical, up front on the offensive and defensive lines, and both teams were that. I was proud of our guys for that.”
Cavs junior quarterback Blake Harrington threw for two touchdowns and 131 yards on 4-for-5 passing, and rushed for 40 yards, including a game-winning 3-yard touchdown run, on 12 carries. Senior Tyren Buggs had 202 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, and sophomore Kaiden James had 95 yards and two touchdowns on three catches. Junior Xae Anderson had a team-high 20 tackles followed by junior Ant Reeves (14).
In addition to the region title streak, it’s also the third year the Cavs have rebounded from an 0-2 start. They lost to 4A’s Cass and Alabama’s Opelika in August, and have been undefeated from September on.
“We always try to schedule tough non-region games,” Wiggins said. " That tells us a lot about our team and shows the places where we need to improve. The kids are put through a lot of adversity. I believe in that. I believe in playing really good football teams on the front end. Cass and Opelika was a very difficult stretch for us, but the kids understand what we’re doing. In order for us to grow, we have to play good teams.”
Because of Hurricane Helene, the Cavs will have an unexpected bye before the playoffs begin Nov. 15. The last time they had a break between the regular and post seasons was 2020, when Banks County forfeited due to Covid concerns. The Cavs went on to win the only championship in program history that year.
“We’re going to be positive with this week off and work to get better,” Wiggins said.
The Cavs are looking to reach at least the quarterfinals for a ninth consecutive season.
Prince Avenue Christian outlasts Hebron Christian in Region 8
The Prince Avenue Christian Wolverines beat the Hebron Christian Lions 34-31 to win a fourth consecutive region title. They finish the regular season 7-3, 5-0 and No. 2 in 3A-A private, and Hebron Christian finished 8-2, 4-1 and No. 3.
The Wolverines led by 10 most of the game before Hebron Christian scored the game’s final points late in the fourth quarter, then failed to recover the onside kick. The Wolverines went three-and-out but melted the clock down to 30 seconds for Hebron Christian, which had no timeouts. Senior Gaines Scoggins pulled in the game-ending interception at the 50 with 10 seconds left.
Wolverines sophomore running back Andrew Beard had 173 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. Senior quarterback Jake Bobo was 7 of 11 passing for 106 yards and two touchdowns, and had 66 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
“Our best group tonight was the offensive line,” Wolverines coach Greg Vandagriff said. “They controlled most of the game and the team did a good job of rallying around them. I never felt like we were in a ton of danger the whole night.”
Vandagriff said the Wolverines were playing “consistent” heading into the postseason, which would make sense. They’re shooting for a third consecutive state championship and fourth in the last five years. Because they won their region, they were already assured a bye in the new playoff format for 3A-A private schools. Because of Hurricane Helene, they’ll have two weeks off after the regular season, and for the second year in a row.
If there is a con to the layoff for the Wolverines, it might be having to wait a week to learn their opponent.
“It’s not like before when you could just look at the region standings and see who had to win,” Vandagriff said. “Things change too quickly. You need some Einstein-like formula and I don’t want to waste my time looking at that, so we’ll just wait for someone to tell us who we’re playing.’
“They need a better system, is my point,” Vandagriff said.
The Wolverines have reached at least the quarterfinals in 12 of the past 13 seasons.
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