By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

LAGRANGE- It was a winning debut.

While Callaway’s offense struggled to find consistency during last week’s season opener against LaGrange, senior quarterback Kedrick Ramsey made a handful of big plays during the 26-0 win.

It was Ramsey’s first regular-season start at quarterback, and he threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Courtney Williams while scoring on a 4-yard run.

Ramsey found out he was going to be the starting quarterback before the preseason game against Northside-Columbus, and when things kicked off for real last week, he was back under center against the rival Grangers.

“As we went through the game, I started getting more confident,” Ramsey said. “I played better.”

On Callaway’s first scoring drive, Ramsey showed off his poise when he dropped the snap and picked the ball up before taking off on a 22-yard run.

That led to a 23-yard field goal from Noah Stephens that gave Callaway a 3-0 lead with 7:42 left in the first half.

Later in the half, after DQ Wilkerson returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown to make it a 10-0 game, the Cavaliers got the ball on their own 38-yard line following a punt.

On first down, Ramsey rolled out and heaved the ball down field toward Courtney Williams.

The senior wide receiver made the catch despite being covered by two defenders, and he raced the final 15 yards for the 62-yard touchdown catch.

“Coach (Matt) Napier told me they were in a cover two,” Ramsey said. “He was like, keep the ball wide. I got out there and I saw Courtney get ahead of the dude. I trusted him so I threw it, and he made a big play.”

In a span of a little more than a minute, the Cavaliers turned a 3-0 lead into a 17-point cushion.

Had LaGrange converted the field goal late in the half, Ramsey and his offensive teammates would have trotted onto the field in a tie game.

“Sitting on the sidelines, it’s 3-0, and I was thinking we’re going to have to go score (to reclaim the lead),” Ramsey said. “And then we put those points on the board, and we just ran away with it.”

In the third quarter, Ramsey led the Cavaliers on a 48-yard touchdown drive.

Qua Hines had a 16-yard run to put the ball on the Grangers’ 24-yard line, and Ramsey followed that up with a 16-yard run.

Ramsey capped the drive with a 4-yard scoring run, and the Hunter Williamson extra point gave the Cavaliers a 24-0 lead with less than a minute left in the third quarter.

It was a satisfying way for Ramsey and his teammates to open the season, but he said no one is satisfied.

“We’ve got to have good practices like we did (last) week,” Ramsey said. “(Last) week we had good practices, and we ran a lot, and conditioned. (This) week we’ve got to do the same thing. We can’t slack off.”