By Robert Wilson
Canton High coach Calvin Bolton and his football team left school at 11:30 a.m. Friday on a mission – to win the first playoff game in school history.
“The kids had a business attitude all day long,” said Bolton, who is in his eighth year as Canton’s head coach. “We stopped for our pregame meal at Georgia Blue in Starkville. The kids were still all business. When we got to New Hope there were no laughing, no playing around. The kids’ goal was to be the first group to win a playoff game.”
Mission accomplished.
Canton left with a 50-41 victory over New Hope in the first round of the MHSAA Class 5A state playoffs at Columbus.
It was the first playoff after 11 playoff losses since the MHSAA state playoffs began in 1981.
Canton, the No. 3 seed from Region 2, improved to 8-3. New Hope, the No. 2 seed from Region 1, finished 8-3.
“We were clicking on offense,” Bolton said. “We didn’t punt the entire game, and when you do that, you know you are having a good night. Our quarterback, senior Eric Gilkey III, threw for three touchdowns and ran for one. He was a great leader for us, like he has been all year. Eric has thrown 30 touchdown passes without an interception this season. He has the heart of a champion. Eric is very accurate and has a good arm. He’s going to be a great player for some college next year.”
Gilkey completed 12 of 17 passes for 237 yards and three TDs and ran 12 times for 70 yards and one TD. Junior wide receiver Ty Greenwood had 10 catches for 148 yards and two TDs. Junior wide receiver Jayden Cration had three catches for 82 yards and one TD. Senior running back Joseph Gray had 11 carries for 150 yards and two TDs. Senior running back Kevarsia Taylor had three carries for 9 yards and two TDs.
“Jayden made two great catches early in the game and they started triple covering him,” Bolton said. “Jayden is a special talent and has offers from Ole Miss and Mississippi State. This helps us have more receivers open and also helped our running game for the rest of the game.”
The offensive line of junior left tackle Tawian Williams (6-foot-1, 275 pounds), junior left guard Jerrick Caldwell (5-11, 250), freshman center Ayden Johnson (5-9, 240), junior right guard Xavier Donaldson (6-1, 270), junior right tackle De’Jour Harris (6-3, 290) and junior tight end Akeem Stevenson (5-10, 250) were dominating all night long.
Bolton, an Independence High graduate, had been a part of a SWAC championship while playing offensive tackle for Mississippi Valley and has been an assistant coach on many playoff wins at Ridgeland High, but this was different.
“I had a good feeling when we started the season that this team could do something special,” said Bolton, who was an assistant for 14 years at Ridgeland and a head coach at McAdams for two seasons before coming to Canton. “We had all our starters back on offense and six on defense. We had a big win over our rival (last year’s MHSAA Class 1A state runner-up) Velma Jackson (45-28) in our first game and lost to (MHSAA Class 7A Germantown (31-6) in our second game, but bounced back and Provine, Callaway and Neshoba Central. We lost a tough one (14-12) at Cleveland Central when we missed a two-point conversion to tie at the end of the game.”
Canton superintendent Gary Hannah gave the team a motivation speech Friday morning and talked about Cleveland Central.
“I’m not one to look ahead. I always take it game by game, but the superintendent mentioned Cleveland Central,” Bolton said. “He said he wanted our team to play Cleveland Central and go up to New Hope and take care of business.”
Canton did and now the Tigers get the opportunity to play Cleveland Central again Friday in the quarterfinals.
Canton’s defense allowed 41 points Friday, but it has played well all season, led by 6-1, 245-pound senior defensive lineman Tyricco Henderson.
Bolton credits his assistants – offensive coordinator Jonathan Harris, defensive coordinator Anthony Reginald, offensive line coaches Roberto Williams and Carl Roberts, defensive line coaches Jesse Branch and Ras Bayles, defensive back coach Antoine Cash, running backs coach Ommaya Davis, wide receiver coach Keith Barnes and quarterback coach DeAndre Johnson – for playing a big part of this historic season.
Said Bolton: “This coaching staff was great this season. I had a lot of help and they helped getting our kids prepared for our games.”
The Canton administration is excited and proud of their football team.
“I am so proud of our players,” Hannah said. “It has been a joy watching them play the game they love. Hats off to the coaching staff for their hard work and commitment to the team.”
“With this being my 27th year at Canton High School, seeing this group of kids and coaches win the school’s first playoff game has been a long time coming,” said Canton athletic director Melissa Word, who is also the girls basketball coach. “I am beyond proud of the way the coaching staff and players have continued to improve throughout the season. Most of the staff have been together since Calvin Bolton’s arrival at Canton. They have been through some very promising seasons that were derailed with key players getting injured. So far this season, injuries have not been as prevalent.”
After Friday’s historic win, Bolton wanted his team to celebrate, but also keep the ultimate goal in mind.
“The kids were all excited when we got back to the locker room after the win,” Bolton said. “I told them this is just one game. We didn’t want to get too high. We want to appreciate the win, but at the same time our job is not finished. Our goal isn’t just to win one playoff game. We want to go all the way.”
“Getting the win Friday was a big success for us,” Gilkey said. “We executed well on both sides of the ball and didn’t drop our head at all throughout the game. Coach Bolton wasn’t all talk to be honest. He has been telling us we were a special group since the beginning of the season, and we had the opportunity to be the first in history of Canton High School to win a playoff game. That played a big part in our motivation and encouragement. Being the first to win a playoff game felt great for me personally, knowing we probably had doubters, shows how hard we worked as a team throughout the season, and it prepared us for moment like that. I hope we continue until we hold up the gold ball for the state title.”
