The Calera Eagles waded out into uncharted waters Friday night in their new 4A classification by going head-to-head with Region 3 opponent Holt.

After falling short in the season opener, the Eagles bounced back with emphasis, claiming an overwhelming 49-21 win over the Ironmen.

Before Calera faithful could nestle into a seat in the first quarter, Eagle quarterback Brandon Wells reached out and touched Walter Smith for a 67-yard touchdown strike. After a blocked PAT, Calera led 6-0.

Moments later, Kendal Cox picked off an Ironmen pass and took it in from the 25-yard line for the score.

A 2-point conversion put the Eagle out to a demanding 14-0 lead just a minute and half into the first quarter.

As the quarter came to a close, Wells connected with Trent Posey for a 21-yard touchdown strike to put the Eagles in the driver’s seat at 21-0.

With halftime lingering, the Eagles added three more scores by way of a 3-yard run by John Lilly, a 3-yard sneak by Wells and 6-yard run by Erik Burrells to hoist a 42-0 lead going into intermission.

Halfway through the contest, the Eagles had rolled up 318 yards of total offense while defensively holding the Ironmen to only 72 yards combined.

With the game in hand, the younger squad of Eagles made their way into the game and found the end zone once more with Posey going in on a 12-yard scamper.

The Ironmen managed to put together three scoring possessions as the second half rolled along, but the damage had already been done.

Wells finished the night going 7 of 12 from the field for 189 yards through the air and two touchdown tosses. The Eagle defense tallied up three interceptions for the night.

Calera head coach Mac Thompson was delighted with his team’s effort.

“We had been working on some things after falling short last week. Tonight our defense played a lot better,” said Thompson. “We wanted to have something positive this week, and I think we played really well tonight.”

Calera will travel to Jemison next week to take on the Panthers for another Region 3 match up.