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The Callaway football team will host another playoff game on Friday night, welcoming traditional powerhouse Stephens County to Callaway Stadium. 

Stephens County (7-4) is looking to make its first quarterfinals appearance since 2005 while the Cavaliers are seeking their ninth straight quarterfinals appearance. This will be the first ever matchup between the two teams. 

The Indians are coming off three straight trips to the second round of the state playoffs and are hungry for a deep trip after beating North Murray 31-14 in the opening round of the state playoffs. 

Unlike their counterparts from Callaway, the Indians are a pass-first team. Senior Tripp Underwood has thrown for 2,191 yards with 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The senior is very much a pocket passer and finished the season with negative yards rushing. 

Just because they rely on the passing attack more than most 2A teams, doesn’t mean the Indians cannot run the football. Senior Javin Gordon leads the team with 183 carries for 896 yards, 148 more carries and 692 rushing yards than the next highest rusher on the team.

The Cavalier defense will have to keep their eyes on Jonah Swinton as the senior wide receiver leads the team with 41 receptions for 734 yards. Swinton is also a two-way playmaker with four interceptions to his name.

Expect senior cornerback Kavius Leonard to shadow the star wide receiver. Leonard shadowed elite prospect Jaylen Elder in the regular season finale against Morgan County, allowing just 34 total yards while registering a tackle for a loss and a pass breakup.

The Callaway defense will also have to watch out for Devon Swinton, who played in just eight games this season but is second on the team with 518 receiving yards. The junior missed two games down the stretch of the regular season, but returned for the playoff game against North Murray. Jeffery Ellis will likely draw this assignment and the junior is coming off his best career game in which he intercepted the Miller Grove quarterback twice in the opening round of the playoffs. 

Brock Tankersley has been everywhere on defense for the Indians and led the team with 141 tackles.

The Cavaliers have their own tackling machine in Xae Anderson, a junior with offers from Vanderbilt and Navy among others. The junior linebacker has nearly 120 tackles on the season. 

The offense is diverse with the ball spread around frequently, but the Cavaliers relied on their dominant rushing attack against Miller Grove in the opening round of the playoffs. 

Callaway produced 403 yards on the ground and 27 yards in the air. Junior quarterback Blake Harrington threw just four passes, completing three of them. It was his legs that kept the Cavaliers moving, leading the team with 164 rushing yards on just eight carriers. 

A pair of seniors — Tyren Buggs and BreShun Hall — did the rest of the damage. The former turned 15 carries into 153 yards and four touchdowns while Hall took 10 carries for 86 yards and a touchdown. 

Buggs is up to 900 yards rushing and 17 total touchdowns despite missing the opening four games of the season with an injury. 

Despite not needing to throw the ball much last Friday, Harrington still has 1,288 through the air this season to go along with 804 yards on the ground and 25 total touchdowns to just four interceptions. 

Callaway will be looking to punch its ticket to the ninth straight Elite Eight appearance on Friday night with the game set to kickoff at Callaway Stadium at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. A win on Friday would mean that Callaway would be hosting a playoff game the following week on Black Friday.