By Harriet Prothro Penrod, Journal Sports
Calvary’s James Simon took just five handoffs Thursday night at Jerry Barker Stadium, and one of those was from his mother.
It was just before kickoff and the sophomore running back had left his No. 31 jersey at home, which – fortunately – is just minutes from the Calvary Baptist campus. Almost as soon as he took the handoff from his mother and got the jersey pulled over his pads, Simon was in the end zone for the first of his three touchdowns in the Cavaliers’ 63-0 rout over Lakeside (4-5, 0-4 in District 1-2A).
“My brother was rushing me,” Simon said with a laugh as he tried to explain why he had made it to the stadium without his jersey.
Turns out Simon wouldn’t need his jersey for long. When the first quarter ended, Simon had carried the ball four times, scored three touchdowns (on runs of 25 yards, 37 yards, and 1 yard) and the Cavaliers were up 28-0.
And the brother who caused him to leave his jersey at home? That would be Jay Simon, the junior who was on the receiving end of both of Abram Wardell’s touchdown passes in the second quarter.
Wardell finished 10-of-11 for 168 yards and three touchdowns in just over two quarters of play. James Simon had 72 yards on just four carries with three touchdowns while Jay Simon had two touchdowns on his two receptions (11 and 20 yards).
In the District 1-2A romp over the Warriors, the Cavs: ran just 25 plays the entire game (just two more than Lakeside ran in the first quarter alone), scored nine touchdowns with only eight possessions, and had two pick sixes (by Landon Sylvie and Chaz Whitaker).
“One of the plays was designed for me,” Jay Simon said of his two touchdowns. “On the other one, I just went up the field, Abram found me, and I cut it toward the end zone.”
Wardell connected with Aubrey Hermes for a 31-yard touchdown at the start of the second half to put Calvary up 49-0 and then handed the quarterback duties to freshman Owen Smith, whose 14-yard touchdown run on the Cavs’ next possession put them up 56-0.
Calvary’s final score came in the fourth quarter when Whitaker intercepted a Cooper Chase pass and ran it back for a 44-yard score.
The Cavs’ defense held the Warriors to minus-24 yards rushing and just 58 yards passing as the Lakeside quarterback was able to complete just 9-of-18 passes with three interceptions.
Tyson Driskell had 20 yards rushing for Calvary, followed by Smith with 16 yards. Kolby Thomas had four catches for 68 yards while Hermes finished with 43 yards on two catches. Garrett Little was 6-for-6 on PATs while Ty Knight was 3-for-3.
The Cavs (7-2, 4-0 in District 1-2A) close out the regular season next week against Loyola at Messmer Stadium.
Contact Harriet at sbjharriet@gmail.com
FAST AND FURIOUS: Calvary got on the board early and often in the Cavaliers’ 63-0 victory over Lakeside in District 1-2A action at Jerry Barker Stadium Thursday night. (Photo by JOHN PENROD, Journal Sports)
