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It has been a rough 25 years for The Calhoun School varsity football program, with the Tigers’ last winning season occurring in 1998 and last playoff win in 1999.

For alumni, parents, students, and fans, it must have been a joy to see Calhoun start the 2022 campaign with an emphatic 26-8 victory over Barbour County on Aug. 26 for the school’s first season-opening win since 2005.

With a roster featuring 16 young, eager freshmen, a handful of senior leaders, and a coach in Ervin Starr who desires to change the culture of the school from being known as just a basketball school, all signs point to a much brighter future than previous decades have produced.

Sure, the team suffered a setback Friday in a 42-6 loss to Billingsley, but Starr isn’t likely to let this team dwell on it, as he has adopted Nick Saban’s philosophy of giving his players 24 hours before moving on to the next one.

The defeat can serve as a reminder to the players – success doesn’t just happen overnight, and they have to keep putting in the work to keeping pushing Calhoun football in the direction they want the program to go.

It is a beautiful sight to see a football program build itself up after periods where sustained levels of success have been lacking, and Calhoun could be in the beginning stages of a turnaround.

It may not be a complete turnaround this season, and it may require some patience from the community at-large, but the Tigers have the potential to exceed expectations as they build the foundation for something better.

We’re proud of the players and coaches at Calhoun, as we are of all our student-athletes and coaches in Lowndes County. We hope this group of players continue to build toward something special.