VERO BEACH — Freshman quarterback Cameron Hadley found three different ways to score Friday night in leading Calvary Christian to a 28-17 triumph over St. Edward’s. Hadley scored on an 85-yard kickoff return, a 68-yard run, and TD passes of 15 and 51 yards en route to amassing 319 all-purpose yards.
The win improved Calvary to 5-2 and dropped St. Edwards’s to 3-4. After winning their first two games, it’s been anything but smooth sailing for the Pirates. Injuries have plagued this team, and with a roster that hovers around 20 players, Coach Brad Fojtik has had to make several lineup adjustments.
“The guys gave it their best tonight,” said Fojtik. “It might have been a different game with some of my guys healthy, but that’s football. We let their QB run wild tonight, but that’s been the story of three of our four losses.”
Junior kicker Dillon Benson opened the scoring for the Pirates with 24-yard field goal with 5:19 to play in the first quarter. Calvary answered on the ensuing kickoff, when Hadley returned it for an 85 yard TD. Kicker Chris Michaels tacked on the PAT to make the score 7-3.
St. Edward’s answered at the 11:54 mark in the second quarter, when junior QB Collier Proctor found running back Kollin Kite for a 3-yard TD pass. Benson’s PAT put the Pirates up 10-7.
Calvary rattled off 14 unanswered points before halftime, and took the momentum away from St. Edward’s. Hadley hit pay dirt with 8:04 left in the half on his 68-yard TD run, and then found wide receiver Jamal Hughes on a 51-yard TD pass with only 1:24 remaining. Michaels added the PAT on both TDs, giving Calvary the lead 21-10.
The Pirates came out of halftime and played solid football. After giving up another Hadley TD pass (a 15-yard TD pass to running back Donald Heath), St. Edward’s shut Calvary down for the remaining 18 minutes in the game. The Pirates closed the scoring when Proctor found wide receiver Chris Barbato on a 25-yard TD pass. Benson’s PAT left SES trailing 17-28 with 4:17 to go.
“I tip my hat to Calvary, they have some great athletes and they played a great game,” said Fojtik. “We’ll watch the film tomorrow, evaluate it, and we’ll work on our execution in practice next week. This team has been together since sixth grade, and they are no stranger to adversity. We’ll be back.”
Two of St. Edward’s losses came to Top 5 ranked opponents (Warner Christian is ranked No. 3 and Florida Air Academy No. 5), and the other two have come against teams with athletic quarterbacks (Shorecrest Academy and Cavalry).
The Pirates face winless Lighthouse Christian (0-6) next week at home.
