CTC Football Continues Perfect Season

The  club football team maintained its perfect record with a 26-10 road win over the Birmingham Southern College junior varsity team on Sunday. Chattahoochee Tech, 5-0 and ranked No. 1 in the National Club Football Association coaches poll, scored on its first two possessions of the game to take control early.

Paul Walton set the tone with a 65-yard touchdown run on the first play of scrimmage.

“When we scored that first TD, it was big for momentum,” said Chatt Tech head coach Tim Freeman. “It told us we could play with those guys. If we execute what we wanted to do, we would stay in the game.”

Quarterback Bryan Owens had his most prolific passing game of the season, hitting Chasten Burns from 14 yards out to take a 13-0 lead in the first quarter. Later in the half he found Aldarien Bryant for the Golden Eagles’ third touchdown of the day. Bryant’s TD reception was the longest passing play of the year to date, as Owens aired it out on a deep post pattern that went for 76 yards. 

The Golden Eagles led 20-7 at halftime, and Alex Camp iced the game early in the fourth quarter with a 1-yard run. CTC missed two PAT attempts on the day.

The Golden Eagles picked up two turnovers with interceptions by Justin Baker and Tae Miller. Baker’s pick, his second of the year, helped set up the Burns TD reception on the ensuing CTC drive, and Miller’s first collegiate interception set up the Camp score. Chatt Tech broke even in the turnover battle, however, as miscues in Birmingham Southern territory led to both of the Panthers’ scoring drives.

The passing touchdowns were Owens’s second and third of the season. Camp picked up his team-leading fifth rushing touchdown of the season despite only playing in four of the five contests, and Walton scored his fourth TD on the year.

The win on Sunday gives the Golden Eagles two consecutive wins over collegiate JV programs after they defeated the Shorter University JV last Monday. The Birmingham Southern JV program supports a four-year, NCAA Division III squad that plays in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference with such well-known Southeastern schools as Rhodes College and Sewanee. The Panthers varsity entered the D3football.com Top 25 poll this weekend after moving to 5-0.

“Birmingham Southern had a high level of talent,” Freeman said. “They feed into a Division III team. They had a higher talent level than anyone we’ve played so far this season.”

The first three Chatt Tech victories of the year came over NAIA Point University varsity, the Orangeburg-Calhoun Tech club team and the Columbus State University club team.

The Golden Eagles will travel to play the Valdosta State University JV squad, which supports a powerhouse D-II program for the Blazers, this Monday at 6 p.m.

“I told our players last week that the talent level gets even better,” Freeman added. “Now we’re going up to play Division II (junior varsity). We just have to make sure they stay grounded and focused on what’s in front of them.”