HINESVILLE – The Calvary Day football team was all business on Friday night, accomplishing its goal of defeating host Liberty County to clinch the Region 3-3A championship.
“We usually don’t talk about winning,” Cavaliers coach Mark Stroud said after the 42-7 victory. “But against a tough place to come and play, we talked all week about let’s be region champs and put ourselves in a great position for the playoffs. Here it is.”
Now here they are, 8-1 overall and 8-0 in the region with one regular-season game remaining at league-foe Long County next Friday. Second-place Jenkins (7-2 overall) also won on Friday to improve to 7-1 in the region, but the Warriors can’t catch the Cavaliers because they lost at Calvary Day 34-31 on Sept. 20.
Stroud also expected a battle with Liberty County (now 4-5, 4-4 region), as the Panthers’ losses this season had all been tight heading into Friday. Stroud called the game “a business trip” and later said he was proud of how the team was so focused and played well at Donell Woods Stadium.
The Panthers took the opening kickoff and showed a spark on offense, completing third-down passes for 11 and 22 yards to keep the drive alive.
“That’s what we expected to see the entire night,” Stroud said.
But Liberty County also was slowed by penalties and a running game that continually banged into a wall of Calvary defenders. The Panthers’ opening drive, which ended with a punt that pinned the Cavaliers at their 17, would be their most productive of the game until a late touchdown with a running clock in the second half.
“As a defense, after those first few completions, we knew they were a team that just wasn’t going to back down,” CDS senior defensive lineman Walter “Buddy” Mathis Jr. said. “We had to buckle down. We had to show them what we were made of. That led to multiple three-and-outs.”
While Liberty County was relegated to a series of fruitless drives ending in punts, Calvary experienced the exact opposite.
The Cavaliers scored on their first possession, as quarterback James Mobley fired quick passes to the right and left sidelines to standout receivers Thomas Blackshear and Edward “Doopah” Coleman and then launched a 64-yard bomb to Blackshear, a Georgia commit, for the first score.
After a short punt and Blackshear’s return gave CDS great field position at the LCHS 24, Mobley fed Caden Jones for three running plays, then hit Blackshear for 12 yards to the 1-yard line. Brexton Bell crashed in from there for 14-0 with 34 seconds left in the first quarter, as the Cavs alternated kickers Blake Williams and Grady Shiver on the extra points.
Another quick Panthers possession was followed by a Cavaliers scoring drive, this time 52 yards and culminating with Mobley’s 15-yard pass to Lavon Owens II.
History quickly repeated itself with another brief LCHS drive and Calvary touchdown, with offensive coordinator Jason Cameron mixing the run and pass in covering 56 yards. Caden Jones went in from the 1 for a 28-0 advantage.
Stroud said he liked the way Cameron’s offense spread the ball around, with many different receivers and running backs getting involved. That was true as the Cavaliers recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, then Mobley connected with Coleman for 9 yards, and Marlon Knight made a 20-yard reception despite a defensive pass interference penalty. Emerson Lewis ran for a 4-yard TD for a 35-0 lead at halftime.
“They played efficient football,” Liberty County coach Tony Glazer said. “They come out strong. They do everything well. They’re physical. They’re fast. They’re big.
“Sometimes you get teams that are really fast or really big, but that team has everything,” Glazer continued. “On top of that, they’re coached extremely well, which makes it tough. We knew coming into this we needed to play our best brand of football to give us a chance. We didn’t do that tonight.”
Glazer said that on the Panthers’ opening drive, they were able to connect on passes because the offensive line gave quarterback Jah’barri Felix enough time. But the Calvary pass rush was effective in taking away pass plays which take longer to develop, and the defense clamped down on short, quick pass routes.
“You can’t really do anything if you don’t have time to throw,” Glazer said. “We knew coming into this game we had to try to establish the run to get it going a little bit. At times, we were able to get a little bit but not a lot. We got a couple of penalties. That hurts. It’s hard enough to get a first down when it takes 10 yards; when you have to get 20, it makes it a lot harder.”
While the defense pitched a first-half shutout, Mobley completed 12 of 15 passes for 204 yards. The quarterback stayed in the game just for the opening drive of the third quarter, which resulted in his third touchdown pass of the day and second to Owens for 14 yards. That was Mobley’s only pass of the second half as well.
Calvary Day substituted in players as the game had a running clock. Liberty County ended the shutout when Felix first threw a 37-yard bomb to Jaden Hurd, then found him again for a 21-yard score. Hurd made some tough yards after the catch to reach the end zone with about 5:10 left in regulation.
Glazer said the Cavaliers correctly were the region’s preseason favorite despite graduating several key contributors.
“They lost some really good players last year but also brought back a ton of really good players,” Glazer said. “That program doesn’t rebuild, they reload. You always expect them to be good. I expect them to go on to probably play for a state championship, I really do.”
Mathis, the standout defensive lineman who has verbally committed to LSU, is on the same page. He said that even though there are some different pieces, CDS is picking up where it left off last season. Those Cavaliers went 13-1 and reached the GHSA Class 3A semifinals, losing to eventual champion Cedar Grove 49-42.
“I feel like this team can go as far as we want to go,” Mathis said. “We come into practice every day. Nobody watches us practice. They don’t know how much work we put in. We’re practicing every day. We’re working hard every day.”
| Calvary Day 42, Liberty Co. 7 | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Calvary Day | 14 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 42 |
| Liberty Co. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| First Quarter | |||||
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CDS—Thomas Blackshear 64 pass from James Mobley (Blake Williams kick) |
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|
CDS—Brexton Bell 1 run (Grady Shiver kick) |
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| Second Quarter | |||||
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CDS—Lavon Owens II 15 pass from Mobley (Williams kick) |
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CDS—Caden Jones 1 run (Shiver kick) |
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CDS—Emerson Lewis 4 run (Williams kick) |
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| Third Quarter | |||||
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CDS—Owens 14 pass from Mobley (Shiver kick) |
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| Fourth Quarter | |||||
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LCHS—Jaden Hurd 21 pass from Jah’barri Felix (Trey Aiello kick) |
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Records—Calvary Day GHSA 8-1, 8-0 Region 3-3A; Liberty County 4-5, 4-4 region. |
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WEEK 12
Final Scores
Oct. 31, Thursday
Benedictine 44, New Hampstead 22
Nov. 1
Colquitt Co 31, Richmond Hill 13 *
Evans 35, Bradwell 31*
Effingham County 28, Statesboro 6*
Brunswick 57, South Effingham 20*
SE Bulloch 44, Beach 19 *
Calvary Day 42, Liberty County 7*
Windsor Forest 43, Groves 38 *
Long County 55, Islands 0 *
Jenkins 50, Johnson 0 *
Savannah Christian 14, Toombs County 7*
Savannah Country Day 31, Vidalia 14 *
Metter 21, Bryan County 8*
Jenkins County 48, Savannah High 0*
Bethesda 40, St. John's 15*
Providence Athletic 44, Coastal HomeSchool 6*
*Region Game
Photo Credit: Courtesy Prep Sports Report
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- Dr. Don Aaron: Bryan County Middle/High School
- Dr. David Sedory: Benedictine Military, Bradwell Institute, Liberty County
- Dr. David Palmer: Calvary Day, Richmond Hill, South Effingham
- Dr. Thomas Alexander: Savannah Country Day, St. Vincent's
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