CALHOUN - Hunter Knight had a night to remember as he helped the Calhoun Yellow Jackets continue a season they hope to never forget.

Knight, a sophomore, blocked three punts in the first quarter against North Oconee at Phil Reeve Stadium and energized No. 1 Calhoun to a 39-14 win Friday in the second round of the Class AA state playoffs.

The Yellow Jackets (12-0) will now play No. 4 Jefferson County next Friday in the quarterfinals. Since both are No. 1 seeds, a coin toss is set for this morning to determine which school will host.

“It’s Round 3, there’s eight teams left (in Class AA) and we’re one of them,” Calhoun head coach Hal Lamb proudly proclaimed after the victory.

Good things came in three’s for the Jackets in the game as senior Da’Rick Rogers scored three touchdowns and kicker Adam Griffith made a trio of field goals.

Lamb said that while he was pleased with his team’s overall effort, the start of the game posed some problems for quarterback Nash Nance and Calhoun’s offense. Nance finished with 152 yards on 16 passes.

“I really wasn’t pleased with our offense in the beginning but we couldn’t get in the flow, couldn’t get in the rhythm,” Lamb said. “We didn’t have the ball long in the first half but we’ll get better this week.”

The first quarter belonged to Knight and the Calhoun special teams unit as they combined to give Calhoun a 23-7 edge after the first 12 minutes.

Knight made the first big shift for Calhoun as he blocked the first punt attempt deep in the Titans’ territory to give the Jackets their first possession on the 12-yard line.

Rogers lined up in a Wildcat formation and carried the ball four yards into the end zone to cap off the short drive. Griffith punched in the extra point and Calhoun took the early advantage.

North Oconee (8-4) stepped up to earn four first downs in a row on the ensuing possession and scored on the eighth play of the drive when running back Brandon Whitlock had a three-yard touchdown.

But the score didn’t remain tied for long as Rogers returned the kickoff 94 yards for six points and Griffith tacked on the PAT for a 14-7 Calhoun lead.

“I don’t understand why they keep kicking it to Da’Rick but let them kick it to him,” Lamb said of the explosive athlete. “But he can’t do it by himself. There’s 10 others blocking for him.”

A three-and-out from the Titans led to blocked punt No. 2 for Knight as he deflected the kick into the end zone and Rogers jumped on it for a touchdown that led to a 21-7 lead for the Jackets.

Following the kickoff, North Oconee once again faced a quick fourth-and-long and the third attempt by punter Taylor Maxey was blocked by Knight again, this time going out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

“I knew I had a lot of chances this week to block some and Caden Parker, he was taking on the blocks so I could get through but I didn’t know I was going to block three of them,” Knight said.

“I can’t say enough about our punt block team,” Lamb said. “I hadn’t witnessed three punt blocks in one game since I’ve been coaching.”

While Calhoun’s defense, led by Kedron Aker and Josh White, held North Oconee scoreless in the second and third quarters, Griffith got to shine as he made field goals from 50, 45 and 32 yards to keep the Jackets’ lead growing.

Rogers was on the receiving end of the final touchdown for Calhoun as Nance pitched the ball to running back David Collins who threw it downfield to a wide-open Rogers. The 33-yard strike made it 36-7 with 1:50 left in the third.

At home next Friday, the Jackets take on Jefferson County.