By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports

All systems are on go at Calvary Baptist.

Monday’s news that the Cavaliers are the state’s top-ranked Class 2A high school football team was greeted by veteran coach Rodney Guin and his players.

“It’s a neat thing for the kids. We know the rankings only matter in November and December. But it’s good that people recognize us,” he said.

Calvary isn’t downplaying the lofty expectations. The Cavs embrace them.

“We put that pressure on ourselves. We say we’re going to try to win a state championship, and we’re ready to go,” said Guin.

“We have a bunch of two- and three-year starters back, 18 total starters back, so it’s been kind of an easy deal getting ready. It makes the prep work easy and we just fine-tune things.”

Calvary looked the part last Friday night in its jamboree outing at Union Parish in Farmerville, rolling 28-7 over a 3A program that has been a steady playoff entry and reached the state finals twice in a row in 2020 and 2021.

“We played very well,” said Guin. “Super, super pleased with the conditioning, because I thought we were a little behind. We played two-and-a-half quarters against a team that’s really physical and at the end of the game, I thought we were winning in that area.

“The whole offense played well. We threw it well, we caught it well. Defensively, we gave up one big play and other than that they didn’t come close to scoring. The whole team played very well.”

Along with a veteran team, Guin likes the blend on his coaching staff.

“I’m super pleased with the staff. I’ve got a lot of great help.”

Calvary goes to Class A power Logansport Friday night to open the regular season.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

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