CALEDONIA — Michael Kelly didn’t become football coach at Caledonia High School to earn moral victories.
The former Columbus High assistant coach took over a program coming off a winless 2017 campaign intending to push the Confederates on a path to contention as quickly as possible.
Eight games into his first season, Kelly has Caledonia positioned to produce immediate results. At 7 p.m. Friday, Caledonia will play host to Amory in a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A, Region 2 game with a chance to clinch a playoff berth.
“It was there. We had our chance to win the football game. We didn’t. We have to move on from that,” Kelly said. “That one game wasn’t going to make or break our season. We have two big games right in front of that we need to win not only to better our record but to move this program in the right direction.”
A victory by Caledonia (3-5, 1-2 Region 2) would give it the head-to-head tiebreaker against Amory (3-6, 0-3). Caledonia already owns the tiebreaker against Mooreville (3-6, 0-3) thanks to its 34-20 victory on Oct. 5.
Last week, Caledonia followed that win with a 28-27 overtime loss to Pontotoc, which is considered a contender to advance to the Class 4A State title game. A victory against the Warriors would have given the Confederates a greater margin for error entering the final two weeks of the regular season. But Kelly doesn’t believe Caledonia will suffer from a hangover after coming so close to earning an upset at home.
“I think the kids we’re counting on and the mature kids in the locker room understand we had our chances to win that ballgame before it went into overtime,” Kelly said. “I think it also is a learning lesson for our football team in that good football teams find a way to win.”
Senior JeDarius Gore and sophomore Alex Mathews agree. Both players said the Confederates have made significant strides since Kelly and his coaching staff arrived late in the summer. They also might have an advantage in that they don’t buy into the notion of moral victories. They’re more concerned with delivering results to get Caledonia back to the playoffs after a year’s absence.
“We were kind of sad, but we got over it really quick from watching film and knowing we can put on a fight and go win these last two games,” Gore said.
Gore said the atmosphere of Homecoming at the school and the support from the community helped the Confederates play so well against one of the region’s best teams.
Mathews said the Confederates have to bring the same energy they showed against the Warriors. He said he knew the Confederates could play up to that level, and he and Gore are looking forward to fixing the things that went wrong last week.
“It feels amazing (that the team is on the brink of returning to the playoffs),” Gore said.
Caledonia will close the regular season next week at Itawamba Agricultural High (6-3, 2-1). IAHS will face Pontotoc this week, so Caledonia could find a way into the playoffs after a loss this week and a win against IAHS. However, there is no guarantee a possible three-way tie would fall the Confederates’ way, which is why Kelly hopes his team can take care of business this week.
“You win the games throughout the week, and then it is those small things in a game that come back to bite us in the rear end,” Kelly said. “We don’t finish blocks. We didn’t block very well on the perimeter. If we could have blocked on the perimeter, we would have scored 40 points on Pontotoc. I don’t mean any disrespect to them, but I give all of the credit to us. Defensively, we have to be where we’re supposed to be when we’re supposed to be there. It is about doing your job.”
Kelly said part of being a young football team is playing with more consistency and making sure players do their job every play. He said he won’t use youth as an excuse because he feels players have matured since the summer. With two regular-season games remaining, he doesn’t want the Confederates to feel satisfied they were close to pulling an upset or that they are close to become a playoff team. Kelly wants the Confederates to break through and seize the moment.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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