First year quarterback in a new system; not usually the recipe for a championship season.

Well, that theory is not holding true for No. 1 Calhoun and senior signal-caller Nash Nance.

This season Nance has led the Yellow Jackets to their ninth straight region championship, the No. 1 ranking in AA and a perfect 11-0 record heading into their second-round playoff matchup with North Oconee.

The Vanderbilt commit and Calhoun native came to Calhoun High last December after transferring from Darlington. He said that the switch was not too tough on him.

“A bunch of the guys on the team were guys I grew up with and played pee wees with so it was really just picking up where we left off,” said Nance. “It wasn’t really that much of a transition because I’ve lived in Calhoun my whole life.”

It would be hard enough for a quarterback to go to a new team, but the difficulty of adjusting to the system is even greater coming to a team with such a wide-open offense like Calhoun runs. Head coach Hal Lamb said that Nance was eager to learn when he came in.

“He’s one of these guys that studied what we were doing,” said Lamb. “He didn’t wait on spring practice or summer practice. He was studying tape in January, February and March so he was really into it and wanted to learn the offense and picked it up pretty quick.

“He’s got all the tools. He’s got the height and the arm, he’s a smart kid and he can run so expectations were pretty high of him, and he’s done a very good job in directing our offense.”

Nance said that getting that familiarity with the system by practicing and getting comfortable with his teammates took some time but all the work in the spring and summer paid off.

“We ran some of the spread at Darlington so there were some similarities, but just getting used to the play-calling and getting that connection with my receivers was something that took some work,” said Nance. “And coach Lamb is such a great coach the way he simplifies stuff down. He’s just a great football coach, and I really look up to him.”

It seems like Nance has grasped the system pretty well as he has completed close to 70 percent of his passes this season and has 21 touchdown passes to only six interceptions.

One common link from Nance’s time at Darlington was teammate and receiver Da’Rick Rogers. The Georgia commit spent some time at Darlington where he and Nash struck up a bond that carried over to Calhoun.

“We’re around each other so much that sometimes we have to take time off from the other one because we’ll get sick of each other,” said Nance. “But he’s a great guy and when he’s focused he’s unstoppable. He’s like my brother, and we’d do anything for each other.

“Our connection is just amazing sometimes the way he knows where I’m going to put the ball and how I know where he’s going to be on the field.”

Nance said that something most people don’t know is that, as starters at Darlington on the varsity and junior varsity level and at Calhoun, he and Rogers are undefeated. He said he would like to keep that streak through the end of his high school career which would mean winning a state championship.