Column: Calhoun enjoyed time at the All-American Bowl

Published 11:01 am Monday, February 20, 2023

MOULTRIE — Colquitt County head football coach Sean Calhoun, not long removed from leading the Packers to the state semifinals in his first season in Moultrie, got a chance to work with some of the nation’s top players last month.

Calhoun was one of the assistant coaches on the East team in the 2023 Army All-American Bowl held at San Antonio’s Alamodome.

Team East won 55-17 over the West team and featured the game’s Most Valuable Player, the UCLA-committed quarterback Dante Moore.

“It was an amazing experience,” Calhoun said. “Everything was first class. I was like a kid in a candy store.” The game, which featured some of the top 100 players in the country, drew 23,000 fans and was broadcast on NBC and Peacock.

And the athletes?

“They were just built different,” he said. “You could see why colleges were fighting over them.”

Todd Wofford of Meadowcreek High School in Norcross was selected as the team’s head coach and asked Calhoun to join his staff.

“When he asked, I said, ‘Heck yeah,’” Calhoun said.

Among the others on the East team’s sideline was Buford’s Bryant Appling, Prince Avenue Christian’s Greg Vandagriff, Mike Smith of American Heritage in Plantation, Fla., and Rick Martin of Naples (Fla.) High.

“We played really well,” Calhoun said of the East team’s performance. “We scored the most points ever in the All-American Bowl.”

Calhoun said he would jump at a chance to be involved in the all-star game again and said he is looking forward to seeing where the outstanding group of athletes, which included several from Georgia, ultimately play at the collegiate, and perhaps, professional level.

Of this and that:

• Hunter Kebler earned points for the Auburn swimming and diving team in the SEC Championships with his 12th place finish on platform.

• Abi White, a sophomore diving at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., was named an Athletic Director Scholar-Athlete for the Fall of 2022.

• Nic Jarvis is now a senior wrestler competing for Reinhardt University.

• Former Colquitt County two-time state champion wrestler Austin Paradice was red-shirted at UT-Chattanooga this season.

• Ethan Sellers, another former Packer wrestler now at Life University, also was red-shirted and was named to the school’s 2022 President’s List, which requires a 4.0 grade point average.

• Former Packer Jesus Grijalva broke his elbow at Brewton-Parker and was unable to wrestle this season.

• The Centennial High School baseball team is off to a 3-1 start under first-year head coach Colin Kirkland, a former Colquitt County High and Thomas University player.

Son of former Colquitt County head baseball coach Tony Kirkland, Colin was an assistant baseball coach and head softball coach at Alpharetta last year. He also was an assistant baseball coach at Tift County for two seasons.

• Henry Daniels continues his torrid start for the University of West Georgia baseball team. The former Packer and ABAC Stallion, is 16-for-25, a cool .640 batting average, with four doubles, a home run and eight RBIs to lead the Wolves to a 6-1 record.

• Jeb Johnson is still pitching for ABAC and is 1-2 with a 4.02 ERA while striking out 18 batters in 15.2 innings.

• Owen Taylor is hitting 1.000 after getting a hit in his first at bat for the Thomas University baseball team, which is off to. 4-10 start.

• JT Whatley has helped the Andrew College baseball team get off to a 9-2 start by hitting .290 with four home runs and 12 runs batted in. Teammate Gavin Steptoe is 1-1 on the mound for the Tigers with a 2.25 ERA. He has struck out six batters in eight innings of work.

• Janiah Ellis is averaging 12.5 points and 3.8 rebounds for the 15-10 Clark Atlanta women’s basketball team. She has played in 24 of the Lady Panthers games, starting six.