Peter Fominaya, Hiram head coach
Today’s interviewee is Hiram coach Peter Fominaya, whose team defeated No. 4 Calhoun 44-34 last week in a Region 7-5A game. Hiram is 4-3 this season after 1-9 and 1-10 finishes. Fominaya came to Hiram in 2018 after successful stints at Gulf Coast and Lehigh in Florida.
1. What did your team do Friday night that made the difference vs. Calhoun? “We told them if we could keep it close at half, we can beat them. We got down 14-0 and were down at halftime 14-10. There was a great confidence in the locker room. We felt if we could stop them on the first possession, the game would turn in our direction. We have a great kicker [Oscar Castaneda], and they had to start from the 20. We actually scored on defense. We had a strip sack [Jace Presley] on third down, and the ball rolled in the end zone and we were able to recover it [Deontae Pettway] for a touchdown. Calhoun being the program they are, they returned the next kickoff for a touchdown, and it was a slugfest. But we scored 21 in the third quarter and 13 in the fourth and didn’t punt in the second half, which is a good sign. And we just played really well on defense to force them into third-and-mediums and third-and-longs, which was a great advantage for us. Our coaching staff did a really good job of preparing them.”
2. Calhoun had beaten your team decisively last season and naturally entered as a big favorite. How did your players' belief that they could win that game evolve? “For us, our confidence has been building through the season. We’ve been one of the top offenses all year. I think our kids have known we’ve been really close this season. We’re 14 points from being 6-1 [after seven-point losses to East Paulding and Dalton]. You can see the progression. We felt that if we could put it all together in one night we could play with a great team like Calhoun. Our kids came out and executed and didn’t make a whole lot of mistakes, and it turned out well for us in the end.”
3. You had a couple of tough seasons before this one. What's been the most important thing that's happened, or that you and your staff have done, so that the team is now good enough to beat a team like Calhoun? “Every community responded to the pandemic differently, and it hit a little harder here at Hiram, in my opinion. We really focused on growing the program from within, developing our younger kids. We’ve had a good group of seniors that stuck it out the whole way, but we’re still a young team. Of 22 starters, 18 are underclassmen. We’ve got only four senior starters. It’s really been about staying together. We told them they’re talented and that their best was ahead of them. There’s an advantage of playing freshmen and sophomores on varsity. We’re starting to cash in on that.”
4. What makes Hiram a good team this season? What's the identity of the team? “We try to really hang our hat on our defense. We focus on them and being the best they can be fundamentally. We run the football. We don’t try to do something we’re not. We have good running backs [Jemarion Whatley has rushed for 830 yards, including 177 vs. Calhoun; and Kaden Hamilton has rushed for 614], and our kids do a good job of executing the game plan. I can’t harp on that enough. And we have a good kicker who can flip the field. And we’ve got a few blue-chip kids as well. We’ve got kids playing hard for each other, and I couldn’t be more proud of that.” [Tight end Walter Matthews is a top-100 national prospect. He’s 6 feet, 7 inches. Offensive linemen Clinton Richard and Jameson Riggs are both around 6-4, 280, and each has several Division I offers. The three are juniors.]