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The first-ever football contest between Covenant Christian and Houma Christian was dominated by the Lions’ powerful offense and timely defense.
CCA scored early and often in the inaugural meeting between the cross-town rivals, taking a 21-0 first quarter lead and 35-14 halftime advantage.
With the lead at its disposal, the Lions coasted in the second half to earn a 55-20 win.
The victory upped the Lions to 4-3 on the season and 3-0 in District 9-1A play. CCA coach Blyght Wunstell said the biggest bright spot of the win is that his team can play much better than it did in Friday’s win.
“We played hard for 48 minutes – there’s no doubt about it,” Wunstell said. “We did a terrific job with effort. But when we looked at the film Saturday morning as a coaching staff, we realized that we had a lot of missed assignments and we didn’t play fundamental football like we’re capable of playing. … Going forward and looking into the future and thinking of the playoffs, we have to polish those things up if we expect to get where we think we can go.”
Lions’ senior Lenard Calloway was a huge factor in the Lions’ win against the Warriors.
In what will likely be Calloway’s only meeting against Houma Christian in his career, the bruising back pounded the Warriors for 143 yards on 10 carries with four touchdowns.
Wunstell said Calloway’s presence is a huge factor in CCA’s offensive success. The Lions have scored 30 or more points in four of their six games played. One of the Warrios’ games was a forfeit victory over Crescent City.
Calloway also had a defensive score in the game against Houma Christian.
“Lenard is a tough individual,” Wunstell said. “He’s tough to get on the ground. He runs the ball extremely hard. He’s going to be sorely missed here. He’s been a multi-year starter here for us. Lenard is a great kid both on the field and off the field. He’s a great leader for our team – a guy that our younger players really look up to.”
With Calloway leading the march past Houma Christian, the entire CCA offense found success on the ground against Houma Christian. Athletes Jordon McKay and Devyn Allen also powered the Lions’ offense, combining for nearly 180 rushing yards.
As a team, the Lions earned 388 yards on the ground.
Wunstell said he believes the Lions’ offense can put points up on anyone if they stay within themselves and execute their game plan.
“Every time we get the football, we expect to go down the field at get points,” Wunstell said. “This is not me being arrogant or cocky, but we don’t think we’re going to get stopped unless if we stop ourselves. In that last game, we had a few mistakes and turnovers and we just feel like we stopped ourselves from having an even better night on that side of the football.”
With the win, the Lions will now head toward their biggest regular season game of the season – a showdown meeting with Metairie Park Country Day.
Country Day is 6-1 on the season and 4-0 in district play.
Like CCA, the Cajuns have a powerful rush-based offense that is powered by standout performer Andrew Kern.
Wunstell said containing he and the rest of the Cajuns’ runners will be a key within the team’s veer offense.
“Andrew Kern is the key guy for them,” Wunstell said. “He’s a great player – a powerful runner out of their veer offense. The offense that they run reminds you a little bit of John Curtis with the way that they execute it. It’s a challenge because it’s a little bit different than some other attacks you might see. But we will work on that offense this week in practice. We think we have a pretty good game plan. Now, it’s just going to be up to us to take it into Friday’s game and execute it.”
The winner of Friday’s game will likely be the district champion, as the season draws closer to its completion.
Wunstell said that for the Lions, the showdown with Country Day marks a chance for CCA to earn respect around both the district and the rest of the state.
The 2013 season marks the first that the Lions are eligible for district and state championships.
“Country Day won this district last year,” Wunstell said. “This is a road game for us, so it’s a chance for us to go in the other dog’s pen and try and win the dogfight in their place. It’s going to be a very challenging game for us, but it’ll also be a game that we think we can win if we execute and play to our ability.
“I think our kids are excited for the opportunity and will be ready for that game next Friday night.
Covenant Christian Academy coach Blyght Wunstell talks to offensive linemen during a practice. The Lions’ linemen are heeding the coach’s advice, as CCA is one of the best running offenses in the Tri-parish area. The Lions will have an opportunity to make a big splash Friday night in a game with Country Day.
