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The Calhoun Tigers reveled in the joy of vying for a state championship on Nov. 9 as they faced off against the Leroy Bears in the first round of the 2023 playoffs. The Tigers put up a valiant effort but fell to their opponents in a 40-7 loss.

Offensive coordinator Robert Sellers said the biggest challenge of the game was the mental pressure the young athletes were under as they strived to make their county proud.

“Our biggest struggle was mental,” Sellers said. “We weren’t physically overwhelmed or outdone, but the guys had a lot of pressure on them with this being our first playoffs since 1999. There were a lot of mental errors made that we could have corrected and had a better game, and possibly won the game.”

Regardless of how the game turned out, Sellers said his boys went out on the field and performed in a way that filled him with pride.

“They lived up to their expectations and did their best,” Sellers said. “We’ve still got some work to do but they played well.”

The team has worked hard throughout the current season and it has shown through under the Friday night lights with the Tigers making school history this year. Sellers said while the team has made major improvements already, they have no plans of slowing down now.

“They [the team] improved a lot this year,” Sellers said. “Last year was our first time winning a game in 15 years, and this year we made it to the playoffs or the first time in over 20 years. We want to keep building and improving every year and keep motivating the kids to move along.”  

Sellers said Bryan Lambert was a key player both in Thursday’s game as well as throughout the rest of the season. Lambert competes as the team’s center and Sellers cited Lambert as the most important man on the line and a player who was very important to the improvement and growth of the team. Other key players included No. 7 Gabriel Bueno, Keonte Abrams, No. 1 Kaleb Bibb, No. 6 Jeremy “Bo” Hardy, and No. 5 Davyon Lewis.