By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
His team scored 62 points and rolled up 665 yards against a defending state champion, extending a win streak to 15 games by a three-touchdown margin.
His senior quarterback had a career night, throwing for 417 yards and the team’s first seven scores.
His blue-chip senior running back accounted for 361 yards and two long touchdowns (a 57-yard swing pass, a 64-yard run), posting 255 rush yards on 19 tries.
His top senior receiver snagged nine passes for 146 yards, including touchdowns of 12, 12, 28 and 16 yards.
What’s not to like for Calvary Baptist football coach Rodney Guin in the wake of the defending Select Division III state champs’ 62-41 dispatch of Non-Select Division IV kingpin Oak Grove, a program that has won four LHSAA crowns in the last five years?
Lots. While the Cavaliers scored plenty of points, they lacked in style points, he said.
“It was very sloppy football on our part. If we want to win down the road, we can’t play like we did tonight,” said Guin, citing a rash of penalties, too many instances of lining up incorrectly, and a general lack of attention to detail – his postgame remarks to the team began with pointing out four seniors were wearing the wrong colored undershirt in pregame warmups.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff to deal with and we’re a long way from being good right now,” he said moments later.
But there was more than a silver lining. With the ball, Calvary was glittering.
“Fortunately, our offense was on fire, played lights out. That’s a quality opponent,” he said.
Which made all the gaudy numbers that more impressive.
Quarterback Abram Wardell was the show-stopper. While stacking up his seven-TD haul, he hit 19 of his first 21 throws including a dropped deep ball that would have been another score.
He finished 23 of 29. And was oblivious that he was one away from tying the Caddo-Bossier single-game record for touchdown throws last equaled by Benton’s Gray Walters two years ago.
“Really? I’m just glad we won. Maybe we can get that in a different game,” said Wardell. “Our offense was just clicking. Our receivers, the O-line, it’s the whole unit.”
It started immediately after a goalline stand by the Cavaliers’ defense repelled the Tigers’ methodical power running game that took the opening kick and drove to the 3 before a fourth-down botched snap halted the threat. Calvary responded by going 93 yards in 10 snaps and went up on Wardell’s 32-yard toss to Brent Bigelow.
The next possession was an 11-play, 85-yard scoring drive capped by a 12-yard strike to senior wideout Kolby Thomas, the same connection that gave Calvary its last-minute state title winning TD last December. Thomas and Wardell dialed up another 12-yard score midway through the second quarter, then added touchdown hookups of 28 and 16 yards after halftime.
“I’m not gonna take credit for that,” said Thomas, grinning. “Abram was spinning the football.”
Even though Oak Grove swung back, closing the first half with a 20-7 burst over the final seven minutes to forge a surprising 27-all knot near halftime, there was not much doubt who was in control. Calvary’s explosive offense sizzled.
“It’s just us being balanced,” said Wardell. “We hit them over the top, they’re going to start backing up. Then we hit ‘em with James Simon. I don’t know what they can do.”
Said Simon: “Once we do that, we know we’re in their heads, they’re confused. They can’t stop us. That’s what happened.”
The 28-yard Wardell-to-Thomas touchdown moved the Cavs up for good, 34-27, 43 seconds before halftime, prefaced by a 29-yard Simon scamper that pushed him to 112 rush yards. Wardell and Thomas made it look easy on a 16-yarder on the fourth snap of the third quarter, then on Calvary’s next chance, Wardell went up top and found Kaleb Tucker over the middle for a 78-yarder and it was 48-27 with a quarter and a half left to play.
“Today was probably the most hyped I’ve seen Abram,” said Simon. “I think it was Kaleb Tucker’s post touchdown, he went crazy. I love that so much, when my quarterback goes crazy, and that’s the craziest I’ve seen Wardell go. I’m excited for the rest of the season with him. I promise it’s going to be amazing.”
It certainly was Friday night.