A young Savannah Christian football team looking to establish an identity of its own came of age Friday night as the host Raiders rallied to beat previously undefeated Calvary Day 21-20 in Region 3-A (East) game.
With his team facing fourth and 8 at the Calvary 18 and trailing by 6, coach Donald Chumley decided to get the ball in his top playmaker’s hands — and Jalen Myrick did the rest, thrilling the home crowd at Garden City Stadium.
Freshman quarterback Chase Marini dropped back and fired a pass to his right. Myrick caught the ball in the backfield and immediately reversed field cutting to his left. He found a seam up the middle and flew into the end zone to tie the game. Logan Tovar’s extra point gave the Raiders the lead with 3:15 remaining.
“I told my blocker Omani (Marshall) to get No. 3 (Calvary’s Reagan Jones), and he was able to kick him out a little bit and open up a hole,” said Myrick, who rushed for 130 yards and a score on 10 carries. “I ran a little dipsy doodle backwards and followed the blockers to the end zone. This win is huge for us. It gets us back on track.”
Savannah Christian (4-2, 2-0 in region play) opened the season with losses to Jenkins and Prince Avenue Christian. The defending Class A state champions entered the game ranked ninth by The Associated Press in Class A. Calvary Day (5-1, 1-1) was ranked No. 2.
The Raiders were able to win despite losing three fumbles in the second half, along with an interception thrown by Marini, who had two on the night.
“Our guys are starting to come together, but we still have a long way to go,” Raider coach Donald Chumley said. “But they kept fighting and they showed a lot of belief in their selves tonight.”
Trailing 7-0 at halftime, the Raiders started the third quarter on defense. Calvary Day quarterback Jake Clemens dropped back on the first play and threw a short pass to the right side of the field. But SCPS linebacker Ahmad Johnson tipped the ball into the air before intercepting it and rumbling 35 yards to the Cavalier 5-yard line. Two plays later, he barged into the end zone from a yard out as the Raiders tied the game at 7-7.
“I hit the ball with my left hand and looked up and it landed right in my hands,” Johnson said. “I was trying hard to get in the end zone, but I had to wait a couple plays.”
On the ensuing kickoff, Tovar went for the onside kick, and Nick Bateman made a huge hit to knock a Calvary player off the ball. Wade Benton recovered for the Raiders.
On the next play, Myrick took a handoff and found daylight on the left side of the field. He sprinted untouched for a 36-yard score as the Raiders led 14-7.
“I just used my speed there to get to the end zone,” Myrick said. “All we heard about coming in was that Calvary was going to beat us. We embraced the underdog role and came out and put the game away.”
Calvary responded with a 12-play, 79-yard drive as junior Derek Kirkland ran well. Clemens scored from a yard out for his second of three short touchdowns on the night.
In the fourth quarter, Calvary took advantage of an Ivan Reese fumble that set the Cavaliers up on the SCPS 29-yard line. Clemens found Jordan Walker in the left flat for a 24-yard gain to the 5, then took the ball in himself for his third score of the night on the next play. Luke Stroud’s extra-point attempt was wide right, a miss that would prove costly.
Savannah Christian had turned the ball over on four straight possessions before putting together the game-winning drive. The Raiders went 80 yards in 12 plays as Myrick picked up 48 clutch yards on the ground on five carries, including a 24-yard burst up the middle. Then facing a fourth and three, SCPS was called for illegal motion, costing the Raiders five yards and setting up the heroics of Marini and Myrick.
“We had been banging the ball inside on that drive, and we felt like it was a good time to get it outside on that play,” Chumley said. “And Jalen’s a good one to go to in that situation. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Calvary got a drive going in its first possession of the second quarter. The Cavaliers marched 76 yards in 10 plays. Kirkland did most of the damage with 43 yards on six carries. He carried five times in a row, all of his carries up the gut as Calvary detected a weakness in the middle of the SCPS defense.
Clemens finished off the drive with a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown.
But the Raiders played a physical brand of defense, sacking Clemens twice as Reese and Daniel Feldman came up with big defensive plays.
Calvary moved the ball on the ground, but the passing game was off. Kirkland had 12 carries for 81 yards, and Clemens rushed for 79 yards on 25 carries. Clemens was 7 of 15 for 80 yards passing and was intercepted twice — once by Myrick, as well as the pick by Johnson to start the second half.
“This was a great game between two great football teams,” Calvary coach Mark Stroud said. “I just thought we didn’t capitalize on the opportunities we had when they turned the ball over. We had our chances. But this was a hard-fought game by both teams, we have a great rivalry.”
Calvary 0 7 7 6 — 20
SCPS 0 0 14 7 — 21
CD—Jake Clemens 1 yd run (Luke Stroud kick)
SC—Ahmad Johnson 1 run (Logan Tovar kick)
SC—Jalen Myrick 36 run (Tovar kick)
CD—Jake Clemens 1 yd run (Stroud kick)
CD—Jake Clemens 5 yd run (kick failed)
SC—Myrick 18 pass from Chase Marini (Tovar kick)