By LEE BRECHEEN, Louisiana Football Magazine
Not a news flash: One of the top quarterbacks in Louisiana over the last three years is Abram Wardell from Calvary Baptist High School in Shreveport.
It gets better. He’s a fantastic student, right at 4.0 on the GPA. He’s a winner. You can count the games Calvary has lost with him at QB on one hand.
He’s clutch – he led the game-winning 51-yard, five-play drive for the state championship in 26 seconds, without any time outs, last December, and fired a perfectly-thrown 20-yard touchdown pass to Kolby Thomas with just a few seconds to go.
He’s clutch – he completed 14 of 17 passes after halftime that day and helped the Cavaliers overcome a 15-point deficit to beat St. Charles Catholic, which was basically playing down the road from home, about an hour from the ‘Dome.
That is how he’s rolled when games were tight, especially this season and last. Calvary, a Class 2A school, is 19-2 since his junior season began and those two losses are each by four points to Neville, the No. 3 team in Class 5A, and at Franklin Parish, No. 9 in Class 4A.
But we haven’t heard much yet about his college future. Wardell is playing it close to the vest, but it’s no secret that he’s one of the most underrecruited Class of 2025 players in Louisiana.
I think anyone other than Power 4 programs who isn’t after him, should be. I think whoever gets this kid and gives him a chance will have a program changer for their team.
Abram reminds me of Brock Berlin, who played QB for Evangel Christian back in the day, won state titles and was 6-0, 190 and one of the best high school QB’s I’ve seen in my 31 years in the biz. Brock played for both Florida and the U, the Miami Hurricanes.
Abram is very similar in size (6-0, 185) and obviously is a big-time leader like Brock. Wardell has deceptive speed for a QB with a 4.62 time in the forty that allows him to escape a rush and gain yardage on a scramble.
So far in 2024, Abram has 2,057 yards passing with 29 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions, completed 117 of 160, and has run for 99 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown. He ranks third in the state behind only Pop Houston from Evangel, and Ben Taylor at Airline. Abram is on pace to throw for over 3,500 yards and have 50 or more total touchdowns in 2024.
He is on pace to possibly beat his junior season stats: 3,883 yards passing, completing an amazing 78 percent (266-340) with 45 touchdowns and just two (2!) interceptions in 14 games. That earned him Outstanding Player on the LSWA’s Class 2A All-State team.
“My high school career has been special. Going 14-0 while beating teams like Captain Shreve, Byrd, Parkview Baptist, Newman and St. Charles Catholic was really unbelievable to win state in 2023,” he said.
“Our goal is to win state again in 2024. Getting to play with my best friends and guys I’ve gone to school with most, if not all of my life, is a cool experience,” said Wardell, a young man with a good head on his shoulders.
One of the best offensive coordinators in Louisiana is Wardell’s coach, Marvin Williams, who teams with former Natchitoches Central head coach James Wilkerson to run the Cavaliers’ productive attack under 200-win head coach Rodney Guin.
Williams can’t say enough good things about his senior star.
“Calvary has been blessed throughout the years with great QB’s like Daniel Fitzwater, Shea Patterson, Landry Lyddy, and Cade Hart. Abram is among those other greats before him.
“I’ve never coached a high school player as smart as Abram. He has the ability to handle any scheme, concept, or progression you ask. I think that will help him as his career transitions into college football. There’s not going to be many kids smarter than him at an early age in college.
“Abram gives our staff the confidence that we can put a lot on him and do advanced things because we know he can handle it and will take care of the ball,” said Williams.
It’s an understatement to say the Calvary program understands just what a gem they have taking snaps.
“Players like Abram Wardell are once every blue moon and shouldn’t be taken for granted. It’s not every day you get a kid that can handle everything schematically and also be so accurate with the ball like him,” said Williams. “I’ve enjoyed being his coach, and he has truly set the standard at our program of a quarterback and, more importantly, a Christian student-athlete.”
It’s going to be fun to watch Calvary this Friday night against a good Class 5A Huntington team in a quality late-season non-district matchup. Then the real competition is near – another Select Division III playoff run, with Cool Hand Luke (aka Abram Wardell) at QB for this tradition-rich program.
Contact Lee at lbrecheen@aol.com
Lee Brecheen has been covering high school football and recruiting in Louisiana since the early ‘90s. He is owner of Louisiana Football Magazine and can be followed on Twitter @LeeBrecheen. He hosts a YouTube show, The Sports Scouting Report with Lee Brecheen. Previews of all state high schools are available on lafootballmagazine.com.