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The Callaway football team will be at home once again to kickoff the 2024 playoffs, a regular occurrence for the Cavalier faithful. Callaway Stadium will play host to the first round showdown between Miller Grove and the Cavaliers.

The two teams have never met on the gridiron before. The Wolverines, the no. 30 seed in the 2A state playoffs, do not come with the rich football history that the Cavaliers of Hogansville possess. Miller Grove, located in Lithonia, has only been around since 2005 and during that time the team has yet to win a playoff game. 

The Wolverines previously competed at the 4A and 5A level, but this is the very first year that they have played in the 2A classification. 

This is Miller Grove’s first appearance in the state playoffs since 2021, the first year under current head coach Melvin Brown. 

Despite having never played each other, Callaway and Miller Grove share two common opponents this season —- Redan and Columbia. Both teams handily beat Redan, but Callaway edged out Columbia 22-16 while the Wolverines lost to the Eagles 34-0.

The Callaway resume speaks for itself. The team is the no. 3 seed and is ranked no. 2 in the GHSF Daily poll in 2A. The Cavaliers have made it to at least the quarterfinals of the state playoffs in each of the last eight seasons, including a state title in 2020.

The Cavaliers are state contenders once again with a strong offense and defense. Junior quarterback Blake Harrington has stepped in as a first-year starter and performed at a high level, completing over 50% of his passes this season for 1,261 yards while adding another 640 yards on the ground to go along with 24 total touchdowns and just four interceptions. 

Halfway through the season, the Cavaliers got reinforcements in the likes of seniors Tyren Buggs and BreShun Hall, who both missed the opening four games of the season with injuries before returning against Redan. The duo was sorely missed and their returns have directly contributed to the eight-game winning streak the Cavaliers went on to end the regular season.

Despite missing the opening four games, Buggs still finished the regular season as the Cavaliers leading rusher with 747 yards to go with 13 total touchdowns. The senior averaged over eight yards per carry and put together his best performance of the season in the regular season finale, turning 24 carries into 202 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Cavaliers past Morgan County to a region championship.

The two-way play of Hall, who holds an offer from the University of Alabama-Birmingham among others, has also been essential to the Cavaliers turnaround after their 0-2 start to the season. Hall has 281 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns and is an impact player on the defensive line as well. His impact goes beyond stats as he is regularly opening up holes for the running game as a tight end. 

While the Cavaliers are a run-first team, they will hunt for deep shots too. Kaiden James, a sophomore with offers from Alabama and Georgia Southern among others, leads the team in receiving yards with 285 and three touchdowns. Jeremiah Dunn, Bryceton Sanders, Trevon Reeves and Hall all have over 100 yards receiving on the season as the Cavalier offense likes to spread the ball around to its various playmakers. 

The Callaway defense came on strong to end the season, allowing just 40 total points over the final four games of the regular season and allowed their opponents to break 20 points just once in the last seven games, a 33-26 win over previously undefeated Morgan County in the regular season finale. 

Xae Anderson leads the way for the Cavalier defense. The junior already holds offers from Vanderbilt and Navy and led the team with 103 total tackles in the regular season while also contributing two sacks and two interceptions. Kavius Leonard, a senior that holds multiple Division I offers, keeps the secondary in line, finishing third on the team in tackles with 42 while shadowing the opponents’ no. 1 receiver all season.

While on paper Callaway has the stronger resume, games are never played on paper. The Cavaliers look to begin their quest or a second state championship in program history on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Callaway Stadium.