By MATT VINES, Journal Sports
Calvary Baptist coach Rodney Guin wanted his Cavs to generate quicker starts.
When the Cavs actually had the ball, it was mission accomplished Friday against D’Arbonne Woods Charter in a District 1-2A opener.
After dropping two straight contests, notably a loss last week on the road at Franklin Parish when the Cavs fell behind quickly, Calvary scored the game’s first 35 points en route to a 56-7 romp against the previously undefeated Timberwolves (3-1, 0-1).
The Cavs (2-2, 1-0) scored on their first possession and running back James Simon IV punched in the first of his four touchdown runs. His four rushing touchdowns Friday is more than his three in the first three games.
The Timberwolves preceded to eat the next 10 minutes of the first quarter on a drive that didn’t reach the red zone.
The Cavs revved their engines and sprinted away from D’Arbonne Woods in the second quarter.
Calvary’s Trey McDaniels blocked a punt and scored in the second quarter before Simon found paydirt twice in the period, scoring on runs of 14 and 45 yards for a 28-0 lead. McDaniels added an interception to boost his performance.
Kolby Thomas got in on the action with a 70-yard touchdown from quarterback Abram Wardell, building a 35-0 lead late in the second quarter. It’s Thomas 10th receiving touchdown this season.
“Once we got the ball back, we played really well after that,” said Guin. “They maybe had just one or two first downs after that.
“We corrected our mistakes offensively and didn’t have any self-inflicted penalties like we’ve had so far. We were pretty sharp offensively tonight.”
The Timberwolves did get on the board late in the second quarter (35-7), but Wardell had an answer with a touchdown pass to Braylun Huglon to go into halftime leading 42-7.
Calvary supplied the two second-half touchdowns with a Simon 40-yard run and a Daylen Wilson 5-yard scoring reception from Wardell, who has 16 passing touchdowns this season.
Calvary’s defense handcuffed a Timberwolves offense that averaged nearly 46 points per game in its first three contests.
“It was good to get back on the winning side tonight and see the kids smiling and having fun on the sideline,” Guin said.
Calvary needed to get back into the win column after consecutive four-point losses to Neville and Franklin Parish, and the Cavs got another shot at a team from Northeast Louisiana.
Flashing back to the 2023 season, the Calvary-D’Arbonne Woods matchup was the defacto District 1-2A championship game with Cavs coming away with a 35-0 win.
While the addition of Union Parish and Homer deepened the contender pool in the district, Friday’s matchup was a still a chance for the Timberwolves to measure themselves against the district favorite.
Calvary, who plays five of its first six games at home this season, remains home to host Magnolia School of Excellence (0-3) this coming week.
Contact Matt at sports@journalservicesllc.com