MABEN – The Caledonia High School football team didn’t win a championship Friday night.
The Confederates didn’t even win a district game that would enhance their playoff positioning.
However, Caledonia improved to 4-0 thanks to a hard-fought 27-10 victory against East Webster in an intense defensive struggle. For a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2004, an undefeated record through four games is a pretty big deal, and is something that hasn’t been accomplished dating back through the 1994 season.
“The team is 4-0 and it has been a real long time since that happened around here,” Caledonia coach Ricky Kendrick said. “Coaches are always consumed by the next game. They are always pushing their players harder. However, on this night, I think the kids should stop and take pride in what they have accomplished. We aren’t quitting now. However, the first four weeks of the season have been good to us.”
Caledonia completed one forward pass and threw three interceptions. The Confederates only managed 187 yards of offense and committed nine penalties, including two critical personal foul calls, that extended drives.
Still, Caledonia showed enough to indicate it will be a contender for a playoff spot in Class 4A, Region 4 after winning just four games and one region game last season.
“This is a totally different team from the past,” Caledonia senior running back Randy Randle said. “I think this team is really hungry. We picked the pace up tonight when we had too. This was certainly not our ‘A’ game, but we never got down on ourselves. In the past, adversity would have done us in. Tonight, adversity made us better. We knew we just had to play harder and better.”
The contest swung in the early stages of third quarter. Caledonia held a 14-10 halftime lead despite only gaining 78 yards in the first half. The Confederates then opened the second half on a 13-play drive, which yielded no points but took more than eight minutes off the clock.
For East Webster (3-1), things quickly unraveled after that. The Wolverines went three and out and then saw Lucas Eads go the other way on a 50-yard punt return.
Caledonia’s defense had the answer on East Webster’s next drive. Ryan Unruh came up with the third and final fumble recovery for the Confederates. After that takeaway, Randy Randle capped a 15-yard drive with a 1-yard scoring run.
“The defense really came to play in the second half,” Caledonia senior defensive back Josh Betts said. “We were pushed around too much in the first half. I think that is the difference in last year and this year. This team, wasn’t going to take that any longer. We talked at halftime about playing better and about executing better.”
In the first half, Randle recovered a muffed punt for Caledonia’s first takeaway. One play later, Gary Walden scored on a 17-yard run. Brandon Henry had the other fumble recovery for the Confederates.
“I thought defensively, we were really physical, especially in the trenches,” Kendrick said. “We turned them over some, but, more importantly, we scored points after those mistakes.”
While East Webster was struggling in the special teams department, Caledonia was excellent. Senior kicker Josh Kugel saw five kickoffs reach the end zone. Kugel also punted for a 50-yard average. The Confederates allowed only one return greater than 20 yards, and Eads’ punt return for score was the complete game-changer.
“The punt return was a really big play,” Betts said. “I thought it gave everybody a lift.”
Caledonia, which faces New Hope next week, will need continued big plays on defense and in special teams. Offensively, the Confederates will spend the next week looking for answers. After scoring 116 points in first two wins, the Confederates managed only 47 points in the next two.
“We will get there offensively,” Randle said. “Everything came easy early. In the second half of this game, we had a good half. We just have to find a way to capitalize and make sure more of these good drives end in points.”
Kendrick wasn’t one to lobby for style points Friday night. Instead, he was happy the week ahead involves another week of practice coming off a win.
“The kids are beginning to feel it,” Kendrick said. “There are things we could have done better. However, the end result was good to us. Whatever it takes, we have to find a way to make sure that keeps happening.”
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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