The Calhoun Yellow Jackets will begin their postseason run Saturday night when they host the Howard Huskies in the opening round of the Class 4A state football playoffs.
Calhoun enters the matchup with a 6-and-4 record and the No. 10 seed in the playoff bracket. Howard comes to Calhoun with a 5-and-5 record and the No. 23 seed. The Yellow Jackets are also ranked No. 10, while Howard is unranked.
The two schools have never met on the football field, making Saturday night’s contest their first-ever meeting.
Calhoun is making its third consecutive playoff appearance under head coach Clay Stephenson, who has compiled a 73-and-27 record in eight seasons with the Yellow Jackets. Calhoun is looking to advance to the round of 16 for the third straight year.
Howard, coached by Trey Porter, is making its first playoff appearance since 2018. The Huskies are hoping to reach the round of 16 for the first time in school history. Porter has an 11-and-19 record in three seasons at Howard.
Both teams faced Troup during the regular season, with neither finding much success. Howard fell to Troup 42-to-14, while Calhoun suffered a 42-to-nothing defeat.
Calhoun averaged 29 points per game while allowing 26 points per contest during the regular season. Howard averaged 24 points while giving up 31.
Friday’s matchup features two teams that faced challenging schedules in Class 4A. Howard played the third-toughest schedule in the classification, while Calhoun faced the eighth-toughest schedule.
According to the Maxwell Ratings, Calhoun is projected to win the opening-round matchup by a score of 28-to-20.
The Yellow Jackets will look to take advantage of playing at home as they begin their pursuit of another deep postseason run.