Lake City – When veteran coach Al Calcutt accepted the position of head football coach at Carolina Academy, he did so with a solid plan in mind.
The coach knew that wins would be hard to come by in 2023 but was confident that the work his team put in this fall would pay dividends in the future.
Calcutt says the No. 1 priority in rebuilding the program was to get a junior varsity program back. The school had been without a jayvee for a few years and that has hurt the development of younger players.
Carolina Academy fielded a junior varsity team this fall, with a roster of sixth, seventh and eighth-graders. The junior Bobcats did not win any of their five contests but winning in year one was not expected.
“The important thing is we got a good group of middle school kids playing on Thursday nights and it created some excitement for those kids and their parents,” Calcutt said. “We saw them improve in terms of just learning the game. Physically, they aren’t mature yet but when they do mature they will have a good idea of football. That’s going to help us down the road.”
Calcutt’s varsity team was fairly youthful as well and the result was a 3-7 overall record. Not as bad as it may look, he says.
“There were at least two games we had a shot to win and we’d be 5-5,” the coach said. “We certainly did not want to be 3-7 but I felt we showed a lot of improvement. We played a lot of underclassmen and no doubt we got better in some areas. The experience we gained is going to help us next year.”
One of the underclassmen that showed great promise was junior running back Josh Brown, who finished the season with more than 1,300 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns.
“Josh had a very good year and he is going to be a big factor for us next year,” Calcutt said. “He learned a lot this year. He has a better idea of what to do and how to do it, and he already has the speed.”
Sophomore Walker McCutcheon threw for nearly 600 yards as the quarterback and also gained valuable knowledge and experience. Junior Caleb Howard gained more than 500 yards on the ground and senior Connor Goldman had more than 300 yards rushing.
Howard also had 68 tackles defensively and juniors Mason Huggins and Daniel McKenzie had solid seasons on defense. Senior linebacker Ashton Rambo was the top tackler with 86 total hits. Sophomore Cole Tanner had 42 tackles and two interceptions.
In other fall sports, the girls tennis team finished with a 9-4 record and advanced to the state semi-finals of the state tournament. The Lady Bobcats recorded a playoff win over Palmetto Christian.
Esther Campbell played No. 1 singles this fall while Carlie Anne Smith played No. 2. Hannah Palmer worked at three singles and Allie Keith Coker played four singles. Blythe Smith and Caroline Cockfield rounded out the singles ladder at five and six, respectively.
Campbell and Palmer worked in tandem at No. 1 doubles while Smith and Coker played No. 2. Blythe Smith and Cockfield formed the No. 3 doubles team.
The junior varsity tennis team posted a 5-5 record this fall. The varsity volleyball team finished 9-8 and the junior varsity volleyball team won five of their six contests to finish with a 12-8 record.
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