CALEDONIA — Onterrio Lowery kneeled on the home turf following the Caledonia High School football team”s 29-15 victory against West Lowndes on Friday night.
With his No. 20 jersey pulled over his shoulder pads at his side, he made an imaginary dash between the numbers and said, “Put a dash right here and it makes us 2 and 0.”
And after Lowery missed valuable time on the field with leg cramps last week in the season-opening win against Nettleton, this week”s preparation was enough to allow to him to be available every time his number was called.
“I took water bottles to every class with me this week,” Lowery said. “And (Thursday night) I drank a lot of water and ate pickles and mustard. I was more prepared. I didn”t want to go through what I went through last week.”
Lowery”s preparation not only enabled him to rush for 162 yards on 23 carries, but it also was the driving force for the Confederates in the game”s waning moments as both teams faced fatigue. That, coupled with two late-game defensive stands, proved to be the difference.
“They were cramped up late and we were happy about it,” Caledonia second-year coach Richard Kendrick said. “(West Lowndes) has some serious talent, and in the first half they were taking it to us. They got in our head a little. But I have to give credit to our coaching staff for changing the mind-set of our kids at halftime. They said some things that got our kids ready for the second half.”
Although the score didn”t show it, West Lowndes controlled the flow in the first half. The Panthers (1-1) scored first on Antonio Wilson”s 5-yard run at the 1-minute, 16-second mark of the first quarter.
Caledonia didn”t respond until late in the second frame when sophomore quarterback Ben Marchbanks scored on a 4-yard run.
Marchbanks added a 1-yard touchdown dive with 1:28 remaining in the third period to put Caledonia up 14-7 entering the final stanza before the Panthers scored a touchdown and completed a two-point conversion to take a 15-14 advantage with 7:58 left in the game.
“Our kids could have laid down right there,” Kendrick said. “But just like last week they answered the call. We had some big plays after that that made the difference in the game.”
The biggest plays might have been on the defensive stand Caledonia took on West Lowndes” final two possessions.
Lowery”s first of his two fourth-quarter touchdowns and Luke Eads” fingertip catch on a two-point conversion gave Caledonia a 20-15 edge. The Confederates” defense stood up the Panthers” speed game and created two turnovers.
On the first turnover, Caledonia”s Ryan Unruh sacked quarterback Gerald Sanders and forced a fumble that Randy Weeks recovered. Lowery and the Confederates capitalized on the ensuing play as the crafty sophomore raced in from 22 yards for the final margin.
After the kickoff and four plays, Colton Gilbreath delivered a big hit that created another fumble that Jonathon Phinezee recovered to seal the deal.
Gilbreath said stopping Sanders was part of the game plan. And after racking up 93 yards on 11 carries in the first half, Sanders was limited 10 touches and 35 yards in the second.
“We knew they would only be as successful as he was,” Gilbreath said. “We knew we had to get him. Once I saw he was faster and quicker than I realized I knew I had to step it up. That whole team was him. And that was the best feeling in the world to knock him on his (rear-end) and stand over him after the play.”
Caledonia will attempt to stay unbeaten with a public-school private-school date at Heritage Academy on Friday, while West Lowndes will play host to Shannon.
“We have to get in better shape,” West Lowndes coach Anthony King. “We got tired tonight and Caledonia took advantage of it. They have a good team. You know what they are going to do and it”s still hard to stop.”
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