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Monday night marked the end of an era at Calhoun City High School as long-time football coach Mike Ray stepped down as the highly success program’s head coach to become the principal at Calhoun City Middle School.

It’s a move that comes as a shock to many as the Wildcats are returning a large majority of players from last year’s squad that made it to the Class 1A State Championship game against Puckett.

“Six or seven years ago I started changing my focus towards becoming an administrator and when this became available it was really hard to turn down despite know the talent we have coming back this season and the teams that we are going to have in the future,” said Ray on his decision to step down at this point of his coaching career.

Ray took over the program in 1995 and quickly found success as he led the ‘Cats to a 9-4-1 record and the Class 2A State championship game.

Over the course of the next 13 seasons the Wildcats only missed the playoffs once after being eliminated from the then two-team playoffs in 1998 on the three-way tie breaker with Bruce and Okolona.

The closes Calhoun City came to a losing season under Ray was a 6-6 finish in 1998, but the program bounced back to win six-consecutive division championship and make two more trips to in Jackson 2006 and 2008.

“I hate when didn’t win the state championships when we had the opportunities, but I was well pleased with the success the program had over the years,” Ray.

Since the start of the MHSAA playoffs in 1981, Calhoun City has a record of 242-98-1 with 15 division championships, five runner-ups, 20 playoff appearances, six trips to the State Championship game and one championship.

In 14 seasons, Ray finished with an overall record of 134-43-1 with seven division championships, four runner-ups, 13 trips to the playoffs, three North State championships in six appearances, and played for three State Championships.

“I’ve been blessed with great players and assistant coaches that were determined to out work everyone,” said Ray about his time as coach at Calhoun City. “I was surrounded by good people to work with, had great support from the community, and the help of my wife (Rhonda) without any of that none of it would have been possible because I sure didn’t do it alone.”

No official word has been given on who will be the next football coach at Calhoun City.

“We hope to have the next coach in line by the end of the week so we can keep the kids on pace for getting ready for this season,” Ray.

When asked about the move to the principal role Ray said, “I appreciate whatever one has done for me in the past and hope to have the same support from the community as I did when I was coaching. I’m still around and my door is always open.”

Stay with goresports.net for more information on Calhoun City’s search for the new head coach.

Ray’s Record

95 – Class 2A – 9-4-1, 4-1 – Division Runner-Up, State Runner-Up
96 – Class 2A – 10-3, 4-1 – Division Runner-Up, North State Runner-Up
97 – Class 2A – 10-2, 5-0 – Division Champs, Round One Playoffs
98 – Class 2A – 6-5, 4-1 – 3rd Place Division, No playoffs
99 – Class 1A – 8-4, 8 1 – Division Runner-Up, Round One Playoffs
00 – Class 1A – 6-6, 6-3 – 4th Place Division, Round One Playoffs
01 – Class 1A – 9-4, 8-1 – Division Champs, Round Two Playoffs
02 – Class 1A – 11-3, 9-0 – Division Champs, North State Runner-Up
03 – Class 1A – 10-3, 9-0 – Division Champs, Round Two Playoffs
04 – Class 1A – 11-3, 9-0 – Division Champs, North State Runner-Up
05 – Class 2A – 12-1, 5-0 – Division Champs, Round Three Playoffs
06 – Class 2A – 13-2, 5-0 – Division Champs, State Runner-Up
07 – Class 1A – 8-3, 8-2 – Division Runner-Up, Round One Playoffs
08 – Class 1A – 11-3, 8-2 – 3rd Place Division, State Runner-Up

J.R. Jennings will return at quarterback next season for Calhoun City as the Wildcats return to Class 2A next season.

Bruce, Calhoun City, and Vardaman all took the field for some 7-on-7 football this past Monday night at Carter Field in Vardaman in one final preperation before the MHSAA Dead Week.

Bruce and Vardaman split head-to-head action while Calhoun City went undefeated on the day.

Hear reactions from all three county coaches at GoreSportsTV.

Brandon Speck/Monroe Journal

Former Aberdeen and Mississippi State and now Cincinnati Bengals tight end Reggie Kelly brought his 82′s Football Camp to Aberdeen for the second straight year on Saturday.

Kelly talked with Monroe360.com about a lot of things. We’ll have all of it posted in the coming days.

Leaders included Bengals teammate Bobby Williams and former Bengal Brian Simmons, among others. Campers must have a solid report card to attend Kelly’s camp.

Click here to see Speck’s interview with Kelly.

Will Kollmeyer/ICC Director of Marketing and Sports Information

Itawamba Community College’s Greg Pulliam has signed with Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala.  The former Houston High School standout becomes the sixth player from this past year’s squad at ICC to sign with a four-year school.

Pulliam was one of only four Indians to play in all 28 games for the nationally-ranked Itawamba program.  The wing player started four of those contests, averaged 15 minutes a game along with scoring six points, grabbing two and half boards and was third on the team in field goal percentage (60-112, 54%).  The 6’2, 170 pound sophomore also hit 71 percent from the free throw line (34-48) and was 7-15 (47%) from behind the three-point arc.

“I’m looking forward to taking what I learned here under Coach (Marty) Cooper and playing at the next level,” said Pulliam, who was helping his former head coach this past week at the annual ICC Team Camp.

“Greg made some big shots for us this year and they also seemed to be in critical games,” said Cooper, whose program has captured three straight division titles, which hasn’t happened at the College in men’s basketball in 35 years.  “You can see that when you look at his shooting percentages inside conference play.”

Pulliam made 67% of his three-point shots inside the division and 78% from the free throw line and was part of a sophomore class that captured a state, regional and two division titles along with finishing with a 49-13 record overall.

Brittney Reese‘s facebook status said it all Sunday evening, “Mission accomplished, Berlin here I come…”

A fifth finish at the Olympic games has the two-time NCAA Outdoor Champion determined to become the world’s best in the Long Jump and Sunday’s jump has her well on her way of doing just that.

The former Ole Miss track star reached a mark of 23 feet 3.4 inches at the United States Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon — topping her previous personal best of 22 feet 11.25 at the 2009 Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix in Doha, Qatar.

Today’s jump qualifies her for the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation) Championships in August.

The Gulfport native burst onto the track sense in 2007 making the finals in the IAAF World Championships, finished runner-up at the USA Outdoor championship, NCAA Midwest Regional championship and SEC Indoor and Outdoor championship earning her the SEC’s Women’s Field Athlete of the Year award.

Read more about Reese at USATF.org.

Berlin, Germany will host the world’s top Track and Field athletes at the IAAF Championship will be held August 15th through 23rd.

Bruce Trojans standout Blake Peden recently signed to play baseball for the Mississippi College Choctaws next season.

Peden was honored as the First Team All-District Catcher after batting .365 with a .791 slugging percentage for the Trojans.  He also scored 17 runs on 23 hits with 9 doubles and 4 home runs, and 29 runs driven in on 56 at bats on the year.

The standout catcher took the time for a quick Q&A Session earlier this week.

Q: How does it feel to have all your hard work and dedication be awarded this opportunity to play on the next level?

A: It feels great! All the late nights I spent hitting in the cage and the 10 degree practices were worth every minute of it.

Q: What are some of the things you are focusing on over the summer to get ready for taking your game to Mississippi College?

A: I’m just trying to lift weights as often as I can and trying to stay in shape. I also still go out to field and to the cage and hit a lot.

Q: Who would you like to thank for helping you reach this goal?

A: God most importantly for giving me the ability to play. My parents for always driving me to work hard. Coach Burt and Coach Courtney for bringing out the best of me this year and pushing me to be more than I thought I could be. My teammates, we all encouraged each other and pushed each other to get better.

Peden suffered a horrific injury when he fouled off a pitch during the second game of the Trojans’ Class 2A playoff series against Belmont that hit him in the face shattering his nose and septum, completely blocking the left side of his nose.

His pupil in his right eye was pinpoint and non-reactive, but after a few surgeries he gritted out the pain to participate in the 2009 1A/2A/3A NEMCABB All-Star Games where he started at catcher and saw some time on the mound in the game.

Peden closed out his high school career on a high note as he and the rest of the East All-Stars pulled off a somewhat surprising 19-6 win over the West All-Stars in Corinth early this summer.

Billy Hamilton was selected as the 57th overall pick by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2009 Major League Draft and the Taylorsville native hasn’t missed a beat making the transition into the Bigs.

In his professional debut with the Gulf Coast League Reds, Hamilton went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles against the Orioles and followed up that performance by going 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and three stolen bases against the Red Sox.

Hamilton is currently in a four-way tie with for the 10th best batting average in the GCL with a .400 average, Kelvin De Leon of the Yankees leads the league with a blistering .667.  The shortstop has a league leading six stolen bases in five games, four players are in second place with three stolen bags.

During his senior campaign at Taylorsville, the multi-sport standout batted .448 with 13 doubles, four triples, four home runs, with 28 RBI and 26 stolen bases earning a spot on the Clarion Ledger’s All-State Team.

Will Kollmeyer (Director of Marketing and Sports Information) talks with Jeff Terrill (head football coach) about ICC football and getting ready for the upcoming football season at the Itawamba Communtiy College Annual Golf Tournament held at Tupelo Country Club.

SPRINGVILLE — Amory took advantage of three South Pontotoc errors to pick up a 9-7 Game 2 win after seeing the first game of the day end in a 5-5 tie.

The Panthers took a 9-2 lead after a five-run third inning.

Ryan Hill scored his second run of the game on a Cougar throwing error to third. Will Cox came around the score as the ball rolled into left field and Drew Pickle, who singled to start the play, came around on the second error on the throw home.

“I think that series of errors was the difference in the game because the rest of the time we played solid baseball,” South Pontotoc head coach Bryan Buckner.

South answered with five runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Lance Carter and Dalton Butler reached on singles to right and came around to score on bases loaded single to left by Matt Adams. Adams and Jermaine Bean scored on a two-out three-run homer by Devin Martin.

“We fought hard all day and I thought we got some timely hits, but we still made too many mistakes to be able to win the game,” Buckner.

Collin Dill entered the game to relieve starting pitcher Ethan Reynolds to keep the Panther bats quite in the fourth.  Nathan Newell reached on a one-out single and advance to second when Butler reached on an error.  Hill retired the next two Cougar batters with a fly-out to left and a strikeout to pick up the win in his first varsity start.

“Ryan has thrown a little junior varsity for us this summer, but for this being his first start in a varsity game I thought he had a good overall performance,” Amory assistant coach Chris Pace.

Hill gave up seven runs (all earned) on eight hits, four walks, and two Panther errors while striking out five against 26 batters in the complete game. Reynolds was saddled with the loss for the Cougars giving up nine runs (five earned) on five hits, four walks, two hit batsmen, and three errors with one strike out in three innings of work.

“I feel like we finished up on a good note,” Pace. “We had to pull up a few junior varsity players to have enough to play today and they played big for us.”

One of the players that stood out was catcher Hayden Williams.

“We called him up from the junior varsity team because we needed someone to catch today. As hot as it was he played really big with this being the first time he has caught for us in a varsity game,” Pace.

In Williams final at bat he smashed a double off the wall in left to score John Randle to cap off a five-run third inning for the Panthers.

“I thought it was gone once he hit it,” Coach Pace said with a smile. “Everyone in the dugout jumped up watching it go… it would have been a great way for him to close out the game considering how well he played for us all day.”

Amory took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first when Hill, Pickle, and Justin Rone each scored a run. South Pontotoc answered in the bottom half of the inning when Carter and Bean scored.  Cody Holloway scored on a wild pitch in the second to give Amory a 4-2 edge.

Game 1 — South Pontotoc 5 Amory 5

Pace was relieved to see centerfielder Randle show up late for Game 1 as the Panthers started the game with only eight players taking the field.

Randle walked into the dugout and was told to grab a helmet because he was on deck. Two pitches later he smashed a two-single to left to score Carter from second to give Amory a 3-0 lead in the top of the second.

South put five runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-3 lead putting starting pitcher Pickle on the hook for the loss.

Bean and Butler scored on a single to right by Ryne Long. Long and Newell scored on a single to center by Reynolds who scored on a single to right by Carter.

Zack Randolph doubled to left to start the top of the fifth. Randle came in to courtesy run and advance to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Hill and scored on a deep sacrifice fly to center by Cox.  Pickle took himself off the hook when he jacked a solo homer to the soccer field behind right field to make it a 5-5 game.

South Pontotoc put a runner in scoring position in the bottom half of the inning, but relief pitcher Holloway struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning with no damage done.

“We are watching too many third strikes right now,” Buckner. “We have got to work on that and start putting the ball in play in those situations next season.

Neither team could plate any runs over the next two innings ending the game in a 5-5 tie after surpassing the time limit.

Game 1

Amory    210 020 0   5 6 2
South     000 050 0   5 8 1

WP: n/a    LP: n/a

Multiple hits: (A) Zack Randolph. (SP) Ethan Reynolds.
2B: (A) Randolph. (SP) Gary Holcomb.
HR: (A) Drew Pickle. Records:
(SP) 2-19-1. (A) 10-5-1.

Note: The game finished in a tie due to time limit.

Game 2

Amory    315 0   9 5 2
South     205 0   7 8 3

WP: (A) Ryan Hill.    LP: (SP) Ethan Reynolds.

Multiple hits: (SP) Devin Martin.
2B: (A) Hayden Williams.
HR: (A) Cole Carter. (SP) Martin.
Record: (SP) 2-20-1. (A) 11-5-1.

Note: The game was called in the fourth due to time limit.