CALEDONIA — When the playoffs come around, Caledonia and Louisville have not been able to escape each other over the past three years.
A 4-6 regular season looked to be the nail in the coffin for the Cavaliers, but two consecutive strong performances in the postseason have them back to .500 on the year with a spot in the MHSAA Class 4A semifinals on the line.
Once again, just like in 2021 and 2020, they’ll have to go through Louisville to do that, something that’s been quite the challenge for Caledonia overall.
Last season was the first time in school history the Cavs took down the Wildcats, a 27-7 victory at home in the quarterfinals, so a repeat of 2021 is exactly what they’re hoping for in 2022.
“Things are going our way right now,” Caledonia head coach Michael Kelly said. “I think the biggest thing that I’m proud of is the way our kids actually play the game on both sides of the ball. It’s not always pretty, but they’re playing the game the right way.”
The ball has been rolling Caledonia’s way in recent weeks as the Cavs (6-6) have won their last three games, but as the playoffs continue, the best teams appear at the end of the road.
Louisville has shown itself to be one of the best and one of the most dominant the entire year, coming into Friday’s game with an 11-1 record and having posted four consecutive shutouts to get to this point.
In total, Louisville has given up just 76 points the entire year — an average of 6.3 points allowed a game — and has pitched shutouts in seven of its 12 games this season as a defense.
Offensively, the “Powercats” are just as potent, scoring north of 34.5 points a game with multiple 25+, 30+ and 40+ victories on the year.
No doubt the Wildcats are the real deal, but the postseason is designed for chaos. It’s one-and-done football, so one slip-up could change the trajectory of a season.
“You just have to get hot at the right time and our team has stepped up and played the right kind of football,” senior Karsten Gullette said. “These are basically our playoff rivals. We’re pretty familiar with each other and everyone is ready.”
“It’s 1-1 right now, and we’re planning on winning the series.”
It’s going to take a Herculean effort to contain Louisville on Friday, even in front of what is expected to be a raucous home environment at Caledonia.
Louisville has checked off all the boxes of dominance, so the Cavs will need to step up in every area of the game to give itself a chance against a probable state championship contender.
“When you turn the tape on them, it’s a typical Louisville football team,” Kelly said. “We don’t expect anything less…We need to continue to play well defensively. Our team is built on our defense, and I feel like if we can play well defensively, we’ll give ourselves a chance.”
The key on defense will be to stop dual-threat quarterbacks Keyarrion Jackson and Xavier Hunt, an area that Caledonia has struggled in this season.
Louisville hasn’t been afraid to use both quarterbacks for large portions of games this season, so if the Cavs can contain them and hone in on defense, Friday could end up as a much different result than what most are predicting it to be.
It’s the playoffs: Anything can happen.
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