There wasn’t much that went wrong for the Calvary Day Cavaliers. There wasn’t much they did wrong, either.
The Cavaliers scored on their first six possessions and their dominant defensive line throttled Liberty County’s offense in a 42-7 win Friday night at Donell Woods Stadium/ Kirk Warner Field. With the win, the Cavaliers, who boast Class AAA’s top scoring defense, improved to 8-1 on the year and 7-0 in Region 3-AAA. The Panthers fell to 4-5 on the season and 4-3 in the region.
“When you play a team like that, a front like that, you’ve got to play perfect football,” Panthers coach Tony Glazer said. “They’re big, they’re strong and out of that front four, I would be shocked if at least three of them didn’t play in the SEC. We didn’t execute the way we wanted to, but a lot of that had to do with them.”
After the Panthers’ first drive reached the Cavs 33 before stalling, Calvary held the Panthers without a first down until the fourth quarter.
Calvary quarterback James Mobley hit Thomas Blackshear on a 64-yard touchdown pass on the Cavs’ fourth play from scrimmage, and the Cavs were off and running.
Sam Anderson, Caden Jones and Emerson Lewis added touchdown runs, and Mobley connected with Lavon Owens on a 15-yard touchdown pass as the Cavs built a 35-0 halftime lead.
The Cavs’ defense, anchored by Walter Mathis, held the Panthers to 23 yards of offense in the first half, and to minus-19 yards rushing. Calvary’s offense rolled up 284 yards, and the Cavs even recovered an onside kick that led to their final score of the half.
Mobley, a sophomore, finished the first half 13of-16 passing for 201 yards. He ended the night 15-of-18 for 224 yards and three touchdowns.
Liberty’s lone touchdown came as Jalen Hurd fought his way for a 21yard scoring catch to complete a 96-yard drive.
While Jah’barri Felix threw for 139 yards against the Cavs, Liberty’s longest run of the game was five yards. Using the same formation it used to grind down Beach, the Panthers went to a heavier set on offense and even to a wildcat a few times.
But the Cavs held the Panthers to no gain seven times on run plays and chalked up seven tackles for loss on rush attempts.
“We were trying to do some things to give us a little bit of time when we did throw the ball,” Glazer said. “We knew we could not just spread out and throw the ball. It’s tough trying to block guys like that. We were trying to establish the run, get some heavier sets. We had a good drive going and a penalty kind of stopped us.”
The Cavaliers were cited for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, each coming after a touchdown, and managed to claw back a fumble at midfield on their first drive of the second half. They overcame a holding call on their third touchdown drive – which ended in Mobley’s pass to Owens on a slant – and punted just once.
Calvary did not turn the ball over, and the Panthers also did not commit any turnovers.
“Good football teams don’t make mistakes. You know when you play a team like this, you can’t make any mistakes,” Glazer said. “You have to play perfect football to give yourselves an opportunity. You have to load the box and you have to try to cover SEC guys. It’s tough; it’s tough all the way around.”
The Cavaliers reached the Class AAA semifinals last year, behind four-star quarterback and current Tennessee Volunteer Jake Merklinger, and Glazer thinks this year’s team is even better.
“I think their offense is better this year,” he said. “They’re harder to stop on offense this year. They’re really good at what they do.”
Liberty will end its season on the road November 8 against Johnson. The Atomsmashers, who fell 50-0 to Jenkins on November 2, are 3-6 on the year and 3-5 in the region.
“We ran into a buzzsaw tonight,” Glazer said. “The good thing is we’ve got another football game next Friday.”