Cavaliers make all-state team

Published 1:08 pm Saturday, December 22, 2018

By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

He was unstoppable.

Running back Cartavious “Tank” Bigsby had an extraordinary junior season for the Callaway Cavaliers, who reached the Class AA semifinals before losing a 28-22 heart-breaker to Rockmart.

Bigsby was a big reason why the Cavaliers were so close to winning a state championship.

Bigsby finished with 2,221 yards on 238 carries with 22 touchdowns, and more than 700 of those yards came during the Cavaliers’ playoff run.

For his contributions during the season, Bigsby was named to the Recruit Georgia Class AA all-state team, and he was also one of the finalists for Class AA player of the year.

Four finalists were selected, and Recruit Georgia put a poll on its website where people were able to vote for who they felt was the most deserving candidate.

It was a close vote, with Washington County’s Dyquan Bloodsaw finishing just ahead of Bigsby, with Callaway’s Aaron Beasley coming in third.

Two of the men who blocked for Bigsby, Keiondre Jones and Keshawn Cameron, were also selected to the all-state team.

Some of Bigsby’s best performances came during the season’s most important games.

In a key regular-season win over Bremen, Bigsby ran for more than 300 yards with three touchdowns, and he had two 80-yard scoring runs.

In the opening round of the playoffs against Elbert County, Bigsby ran for 314 yads on 27 attempts with three touchdowns.

In the second round against defending state-champion Hapeville Charter, Bigsby had 238 yards on 26 attempts with four touchdowns.

In four playoff games, Bigsby ran for 778 yards with eight touchdowns.

Bigsby usually had plenty of room to run thanks to the performance of an offensive line that include Jones and Cameron.

Jones, who signed with Auburn last week, was a four-year starter, and Bigsby was the third 2,000-yard rusher he blocked for.

Cedric Maynard, DJ Atkins and Bigsby all surpassed 2,000 yards while running behind Jones.

After Callaway overwhelmed Hapeville Charter 31-13, Cameron said the game plan was to simply over-power a team that was going for a second straight state title.

“I know we came out with great physicality,” Cameron said. “We kept punching them and punching the