For the first time in five years, the Haralson County Rebels and Callaway Cavaliers will be clashing in what will be a rare Tuesday night matchup, in what looks to be an interesting game that could shake up the rankings in Class 2A. Currently, Callaway sits on top of the 2A rankings and also looks like the best overall team out of the ultra-competitive five-team Region 5. On the other hand, the Rebels have been ranked as high as 5th in the classification this season and carry a 6-1 overall record and 1-1 region mark. A victory tonight against the 5-0 Cavaliers would skyrocket them up in the rankings and also would give the program its first-ever victory against Callaway after going 0-6 in their previous six all-time meetings.
Although, a win would be huge, it will be easier said than done. The Cavaliers have arguably the best defense in Class 2A and don’t seem to be getting any weaker on that side of the ball after taking on a talented lineup of opponents in their previous five games. Offensively they are being led by star quarterback Demetrius Coleman whose athleticism makes him a threat to contain in the pocket. Already, Coleman is closing in on 1,000 rushing yards on the year and his effectiveness through the air makes Callaway’s offense that much more effective. With the help of stand out receiver Jalin Shepherd, the Cavaliers are constant threat through the air. It should be challenging for the Rebels to slow this offense down on defense, but takeaways have been key for this group. The Rebels have had eight forced fumbles and five through the first five games of the season and will be looking to cause some more against Callaway in order to better their odds at defeating the Cavs.
Rebels Head Coach Scott Peavey talked about the importance of turnovers and how he believes it could have an impact in tonight’s game.
“Yeah takeaways will be something that can be a huge momentum swing,” said Peavey. “Callaway, they don’t turn the ball over a lot, so it will be challenging to cause some turnovers against them. Those guys are coached very well and it shows.”
The Rebels getting some takeaways could really determine which team wins this game and when it comes to offense, Haralson’s ability to establishing the run against Callaway’s stout defense will be a challenge they have to overcome. It will be imperative for the Rebels to establish some plays through the air to give them a greater chance at winning. Junior Quarterback Clay Hyatt has only thrown one touchdown pass and has thrown for 22 yards. There will have to be more production out of the passing game if the Rebels are going to increase their chances of being victorious.
Coach Peavey understands how hard it will be to run on the Cavaliers defense and expressed his thoughts on how tough and experienced he feels their defense is.
“Well, yeah obviously its going to be hard to do anything against them,” said Peavey. “You know those guys have been so good for so long. It will be tough for sure to run the ball against them, they play very hard on that side of the ball and they don’t give up many yards on the ground as well, so it will hard to run on them for sure. You know they’re the number one team in the state for a reason.” Peavey said.
his game tonight will be intriguing to tune into to see which defense will be more disruptive against the opposing offense. This game could be low scoring and could show be a battle over which team can dominate in time of possession. Callaway winning all six previous matchups will be another psychological hurdle for the Rebels to overcome against what will likely be the toughest team they have faced so far this season. We will find out tonight if the Rebels can finally beat the Cavaliers for the first time in their history to make themselves stand out amongst the elite in Class 2A. Despite playing in a region were every team currently has a winning record and four out of the five teams have been ranked at some point of the season, this matchup will be one of the biggest all season in determining which team emerges out of Region 5 with the No. 1 seed.
*UPDATE: Haralson County won Tuesday’s game 36-29
For the LaGrange Daily News Recap CLICK HERE
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