BAMBERG -- If last week’s Allendale-Fairfax game was personal, Friday’s contest at Leon Maxwell Stadium was all about business for Calhoun County.

The business at hand for the Saints was clearing another hurdle in their quest for the Region 5-A title. Standing in the way was three-time defending champion Bamberg-Ehrhardt, which also came into the contest undefeated and owned a 14-1 edge over the Saints in the head-to-head meetings.

With its “Elite 11” duo -- quarterback David Sims and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery -- sparking a second-half surge, Calhoun County took care of business with a 36-9 victory over the Red Raiders.

In claiming sole ownership of first place in Region 5-A, the Saints (6-0, 3-0) scored 22 unanswered points to pull away in the second half.

Leading the charge was Sims, who rushed for 100 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 212 yards on 13-25 passing, one TD and an interception.

All but 90 of Sims’ passing yards came off the hands and legs of Jeffery. He had just six catches, but his elusiveness and 6-4 frame allowed him to rack up the yards after receptions against the younger, shorter B-E cornerbacks.

“I tell my kids ‘Players make plays and everybody has a role’,” Calhoun County head coach Walter Wilson said. “To me, (Alshon Jeffery) is the top receiver in the state -- bar none. Because my thing is this kid wants to win and he doesn’t catch a pass, he will block. He will block.

“He just wants to win and when the lights come on and the big scene -- you’re going to know that he’s in the building.”

When Sims was not targeting Alshon or Shamier Jeffery, Kevin Thompson came through with five catches for 65 yards before getting carried via EMS truck out of the stadium with a bruised knee. Defensively, Tajh Cheeseboro had a season-high 25 tackles, followed by James Williams with 16 and a fumble recovery, one of three turnovers forced by the Saints.

“We didn’t make the plays that we should have made,” B-E head coach Kevin Crosby said. “We knew that they were strong, but the biggest thing was we missed a bunch of tackles. Not making excuses, but you’re talking about young guys and they found out where we were green at and we’ve just got to get better. They exploited us where our strength is not at. We’re green back there at the secondary and at linebacker and they just picked on us all night and they made the plays and we didn’t.”

Calhoun County jumped out to a 14-0 lead. The Saints opened the game with Sims throwing a lateral pass to Shamier Jeffrey, who lofted a high pass downfield to brother Alshon for a 42-yard reception.

After a 17-yard run by Jermaine Bull, who finished with 81 yards, Sims ran a keeper into the end zone with 10:22 remaining in the first quarter.

The Saints forced a rare punt on the first possession by B-E, but the next possession was brief as Alshon Jeffery was stripped of the football after a 27-yard catch-and-run on first down and B-E’s Carl Williams recovered it at the Saints’ 48.

The Red Raiders could not capitalize as Anquan Thomas was stopped for no gain on 4th and 1. Sims wasted little time driving the Saints downfield, starting with a 19-yard run and a 25-yard pass to Alshon Jeffrey in which he outleapt two Red Raider defenders.

With the ball at the B-E 15, Sims fired a strike to Thompson in the end zone and was successful on the two-point conversion with 3:36 left in the first quarter.

Sticking to its ground attack and aided by three Calhoun County offside penalties, B-E methodically moved the football from its own 13 to the Saint 9. The Red Raiders had to settle for a 26-yard field goal by Randon Sandifer to cap the 13-play drive, which took nearly eight minutes off the clock.

As B-E’s linemen continued to win the battle up front and began placing more pressure on Sims, the Saints offense’ stalled and they had to settle for the 11-point halftime advantage.

“We were getting our butts kicked up front,” Wilson said. “Trust me, when I went back out there, I let them know we were getting our butts kicked up front. There was no way to sugarcoat it. There was no way to sugarcoat it.”

With possession of the football to open the second half, the Red Raiders looked to maintain the momentum. Pounding away with Demetrius Williams and Javonte Middleton, B-E reached the Calhoun County 15 when Godley faked the handoff and ran a keeper down the left sidelines for the touchdown.

Sandifer’s PAT was blocked, leaving the score at 14-9 at the 6:42 mark and the Red Raider fans sensing a possible turning point.

The Saints reassured their faithful in attendance by turning to their playmakers to regain control of the game. Backed up at his own 7, Sims threw a short screen pass to Alshon Jeffrey, who proceeded to run past and through defenders in his way downfield for a 42-yard reception.

Sims took over from there, completing two passes to Thompson before calling his own number on a five-yard touchdown run. Another two-point conversion extended the Saints’ lead to 22-9 with 2:56 left in the third quarter.

“We came out in the second half and did exactly what I wanted to do which was take the ball and drive it down their throat and score and then we get them pinned deep,” Crosby said. “But then you give up a big play on missed tackles and you put yourself back in a hole you never dig yourself out of because they took the momentum right from us.”

Things continued to go downhill for the Red Raiders as Calhoun County turned a blocked punt into a scoring drive, capped by a 14-yard run by Sims to open the fourth quarter. Donte Stewart scored on the two-point conversion and the Saints had a commanding 30-9 lead.

With B-E’s next two possessions ending in turnovers, some of the home crowd quietly sauntered toward the exit. Late in the game, Calhoun County’s Jermaine Bull closed out the scoring with an 11-yard run with 1:58 remaining in the game.

Up next for Calhoun County is a “Homecoming” matchup against Denmark-Olar, who they edged 6-5 last year. As for B-E (5-1, 1-1), they will look to rebound against Bethune-Bowman.

“Another hurdle,” Wilson said. “The bottom line is that Bamberg-Ehrhardt was standing in our way. We have a mission. We’ve got some bigger hurdles to climb, but we’re taking it one at a time and overlooking no one. Next week, our full attention will be on Denmark-Olar. We’re going to come out and play Denmark the way we played Bamberg. We’re taking it one at a time and my kids are getting better every week.”

T&D Senior Sports Writer Thomas Grant Jr. can be reached by e-mail at tgrant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5547.

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