By Steven Kilpatrick

The Shelby County Reporter

CALERA — The Calera Eagles came out firing on all cylinders as they beat the Dallas County Hornets 44-7 in the final game of the 2011 season.

Calera head coach Wiley McKeller said the Eagles’ (4-6, 2-5) win over the Hornets (0-10, 0-7) gives them momentum heading into the offseason.

“Winning our last game like this gives us a lot of momentum going in to the offseason. We definitely have some things to work out and improve on, but we are looking forward to the challenge,” said McKeller. “We appreciate the hard work from these seniors and we are glad to send them out with a win.”

On the first drive of the game the Eagles took the ball 65 yards down the field to get on the board early in the first quarter, as Sam Adams took it in from 23 yards out to give his team an early 7-0 lead.

Three possessions later, Eagles’ defender Jordan Bishop read the Hornets’ quarterback and got an interception, forcing the first of five Hornets’ turnovers in the game.

With this momentum, Calera only needed five plays to find the endzone, as it was Adams again, this time from 5 yards out to give Calera a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Eagles owned the second quarter, as they scored on all but one drive and forced two turnovers, both interceptions by Adams and Bishop.

Eagles’ quarterback Zach Reneau had a huge quarter as he led his team downfield and tossed a 15-yard touchdown to Titus Adams to give Calera a 20-0 lead. After the second interception, Reneau only needed one play, a 56-yard pass to Jordan Bishop to extend the Eagles lead to 27-0. After a 26-yard field goal, the Eagles went into the locker room with a huge lead over Dallas County, 30-0.

The Hornets only score came on their first possession of the second half.