QUITMAN –– The Callaway Cavaliers feature an “extremely athletic team with speed all over the place,” according to Brooks County coach Maurice Freeman. His team will try to keep pace when the two teams collide in the semifinal round of the Class AA playoffs Friday night.

“They’ve got big linemen, athletic receivers and two of the best running backs I’ve ever seen and a quarterback that’s got a gun, he can really throw that ball,” Freeman said.

The headliner for the Cavaliers’ offensive attack is running back Cartavious Bigsby, a.k.a. “Tank.” A 6-foot-1, 215-pound running back, Bigsby is one of the top players in the country. Ranked by rivals.com as a four-star recruit, Bigsby is already committed to Auburn after being recruited by top programs like Alabama, Florida, LSU and in-state power Georgia. 

“He’s as good as advertised and they’ve got a young guy behind him that’s pretty doggone good also,” Freeman said.

Junior signal-caller Demetrius Coleman quarterbacks the Cavaliers offense. In the team’s 54-7 win over Chattooga in the first round of the playoffs, Coleman tossed six touchdown passes, according to the lagrangenews.com. 

The dynamic quarterback-running back tandem is a big reason Callaway has reeled off 12 straight wins since its season-opening loss to Opelika.

The Trojans’ defense is a big reason the runners-up in Region 1 have allowed just 23 points this postseason and are winners of six straight. It stymied Metter’s rushing attack in a 35-6 rout last week. Brooks hopes it has similar success Friday night against a Callaway team that’s scored at least 50 points seven times this year, including a 50-31 rout of Region 1’s Fitzgerald in the second round two weeks ago.

“What it’s going to take from us is to be an extremely physical football team, just be on top of our game and force them to make mistakes,” Freeman said. “If we can force them to make mistakes and we not make the big mistakes, like giving up a big touchdown after a turnover, a 50-yard or 60-yard bomb or let that running back break out for a 60-yard run; we’ve got to minimize those types of things.”

Kickoff for Friday’s game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Hogansville, Ga.