By HARRIET PROTHRO PENROD, Journal Sports
Lightning lit up Jerry Barker Stadium Thursday night, delaying Calvary’s season-opening game against Logansport.
When the Cavaliers welcomed the Tigers back on Saturday, it was Abram Wardell and Bryce Carpenter who lit up the stadium as the Calvary quarterbacks took turns picking apart the Tigers’ defense in a 45-22 victory.
If Calvary coach Rodney Guin wanted to use the season-opener as a gauge to see which of his quarterbacks would be replacing Landry Lyddy – last year’s state “Mr. Football” – he could have a problem.
It’s one he doesn’t mind.
“That’s a good problem to have,” said Guin. “I have no problem playing either one of them.”
Sandwiched in between James Simon’s touchdown runs – a 1-yarder just over two minutes into the game and a 10-yarder to close out the first half – were lightning strikes by both quarterbacks.
Carpenter hit Colby Thomas over the middle for a 52-yard touchdown while Wardell connected on a 49-yard scoring pass to Thomas and a 32-yarder to Chris Jackson. Thomas led the Cavs with five catches for 131 yards. Wardell (a sophomore) was 7-for-8 for 120 yards while Carpenter (a junior) finished 4-for-4 for 93 yards.
“We did what we were expected to do,” said Carpenter. “We were ready to play, especially since the delay.”
Logansport had no answer for the prolific performance by the Cavs, who scored on all five of their first-half possessions. Calvary took a 35-6 lead into halftime. After Xavier Mcglothan recovered a Logansport fumble at the Calvary 1-yard line and returned it 99 yards to increase the lead to 42-6 with six minutes to go in the third quarter, Guin gave his starters a rest.
The Tigers got on the board in the first quarter with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Khameron Boykins to Jayven Claybrook.
Logansport added two touchdowns in the fourth quarter on runs by Claybrook (3 yards) and Dekamaron Yarbrough (32 yards).
Garrett Little, who connected on all six extra points for Calvary, also added a 42-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
“We were sharp on offense early on,” said Guin. “And we better be, because next week is gonna be a chore.”
Calvary (1-0), which got to the 2021 LHSAA Division IV semifinals, will face District 1-5A Captain Shreve (1-0) at Lee Hedges Stadium on Thursday night.
Contact Harriet at sbjharriet@gmail.com
Calvary 45, Logansport 22
Score by quarters
Calvary | 21 | 14 | 7 | 3 | – 45
Logansport | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16 | – 22
Scoring summary
Cal – James Simon 1 run (Garrett Little kick)
Cal –Colby Thomas 52 pass from Bryce Carpenter (Little kick)
Log – Jayven Claybrook 11 pass from Khameron Boykins (pass failed)
Cal – Thomas 49 pass from Abram Wardell (Little kick)
Cal – Chris Jackson 32 pass from Wardell (Little kick)
Cal – Simon 10 run (Little kick)
Cal – Xavier Mcglothan 99 fumble return (Little kick)
Log – Claybrook 3 run (Claybrook run)
Cal – Little 42 field goal
Log – DeKamaron Yarbrough 32 run (Yarbrough run)
Individual leaders
Rushing – Calvary (26-62), Owen Smith 4-44, Simon 9-31, Cole Miller 6-5, Carpenter 4-0, Titus Stringer 1-(-4), Wardell 2-(-14). Logansport (33-138), Yarbrough 6–55, Jace Thompson 14-35, Boykins 5-31, Jukadyn Carter 1-9, Claybrook 5-7, Steven Holloway 1-4, Thalemius Hill 1-(-3).
Passing – Calvary (11-12-0-213), Wardell 7-8-0-120, Carpenter 4-4-0-93. Logansport (16-27-0-109), Boykins 16-27-0-109.
Receiving – Calvary, Thomas 5-131, Jackson 2-36, Aubrey Hermes 2-27, Simon 2-19. Logansport, Claybrook 4-46, Thalemius Hill 5-40, Jamarcus Jones 3-18, D’avery Robinson 2-8, D’warr’tez Chatman 1-3, Jordan Meshell 1-(-6).
Photo by JOHN PENROD, Journal Sports