Calvary Baptist clinches Division III select championship with classic comeback

Cavaliers score TD in closing seconds to deny St. Charles Catholic a 'three-peat'

NEW ORLEANS – Since the start of the fall practice, Calvary Baptist coach Rodney Guin stated that his Cavaliers have not had a bad day all season.

On the final day of the season, a pair of touchdown passes by Abram Wardell in the final three minutes kept that premise true.

In Saturday's Division III select championship game, the Cavaliers defeated St. Charles Catholic, 34-28, to claim their fourth state championship thanks to scoring 15 points in the final three minutes. With the win, the Cavs not only snapped St. Charles’ 20-game winning streak, but they also won their first title since 2020.

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“The kids have confidence that we can score and we didn’t do anything differently,” Guin said, “We finally made some plays. We didn’t make plays in the first half, but when it was all on the line, they came through.”

Calvary Baptist and St. Charles have been on a collision course to meet in the Division III select championship game since fall camp began.

So, it was only fitting that they would meet in the Caesars Superdome on the final day of the regular season in a matchup decided at the very last minute.

Coming in with an outstanding 43:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio, it took a minute for Wardell to get going, but he was nearly flawless on the final two drives after going 7-for-9 and offsetting an interception in the first half.

His first touchdown was to Aubrey Hermes with 2:47 to go and then he connected with Kolby Thomas with 18 seconds left to win the game.

“I had to trust the offensive line. I knew they were going to hold up,” Wardell said. “In the first half, I threw in bad situations, but they blocked amazing those last two drives.”

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Things still had to bounce the Cavaliers’ way, however, and that was thanks to the defense.

After the Comets missed a field goal to end a five-minute drive, they still had an opportunity to ice the game with 44 seconds on a fourth-and-1. However, the Calvary defense held serve to set up the game-winning drive.

It also produced a fumble recovery on the final play of the game when St. Charles’ hook-and-ladder play went awry.

“Our coaches gripe at me, because all I care is about the offense, but we’ve made big plays (defensively) the last three weeks,” Guin said. “They’ve played well all year long, but they just get overshadowed.”

The comeback now keeps the Cavaliers perfect in state championship games at 4-0. No other team has more LHSAA state football championships without a loss.

“We never give up, even when we’re up by 15,” Wardell said. “We just take it play-by-play and not look at the scoreboard.”

Calvary Baptist photo by Crescent City Sports

-- LaMar Gafford | @SBLiveLA