FERRIDAY, La. &045; The unknown factor is the biggest key to tonight’s Ferriday-Calvary Academy game, but that’s the least of the Trojans’ worries.

Quite honestly, they have very few worries.

In what was anticipated as an open date after Crowville closed, the Trojans picked up the game against Shreveport-based Calvary, a program in its first year of existence under former Evangel Christian head coach Johnny Booty (yep, that Evangel).

The Trojans may face a miniature version of the powerful Eagles, but things could be much worse &045; Ferriday could be sitting home on a Friday night when it needs a game to play.

Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Melz Field as LHSAA schools in the Miss-Lou enter Week 6.

&uot;I had almost given up filling this date,&uot; Ferriday head coach James McFarland said. &uot;About the first week of the season (Booty) gave me a call. He’s just trying to get some games. They’re not in any class, and they said they would come here.

&uot;It’s almost too good to be true &045; you don’t have to return the game, they’ll bring a good number of fans and it won’t hurt our power points. It’s almost like a fund-raiser.&uot;

Calvary is the new school in Shreveport Booty helped to establish, and the longtime Evangel assistant and father of football stars Josh, Abram and John David is in his first season as head coach of the new school.

Scheduling was tough for Calvary coming into an odd year of the two-year LHSAA scheduling process. Calvary has had to scramble to find games and will play at Wilkinson County Oct. 22.

But there’s still a matter of getting on the field with the team some are wondering may be the next Evangel. The Cavaliers will throw it a ton behind quarterback Alan Rogers and receiver Justin Poole.

Rogers is fourth in the state in yards passing at 1,152, and Poole is leading the state in receiving with 665 yards on 31 catches. The Cavaliers are 2-3 on the season fresh off losses to Franklin Parish (46-26) and Delta (44-7).

&uot;I really don’t know what to expect,&uot; McFarland said. &uot;We’ve seen them on film, and they’re really good offensively, but defensively we think we can exploit some things. They’ve got a good quarterback and good skill people. They don’t have a lot of speed, and they don’t look that big on defense. But they’re a passing team &045; a wide-open offense.&uot;

The Trojans, meanwhile, come into the game limping a bit with injuries suffered playing a pretty tough schedule in predistrict, just as they’ve done in recent seasons. They have just one win so far and have dropped games to Class 4A Peabody, Class 3A Franklin Parish, Class 3A Carroll and No. 1-ranked 2A Northeast.

Tight end Dra’Carl Walker likely won’t play today (hamstring), and starters Cortez Minor and Montario Tennessee are hurt but will likely play.

&uot;You’ve got to look at the five teams we’ve played &045; there are two losses between them,&uot; McFarland said. &uot;Believe it or not, at 1-4 we still have pretty good power points. The next five games we feel good about. I feel we can compete with all those teams, and we will be able to compete with all of them.&uot;

Block at Tallulah

JONESVILLE, La. &045; Johnny Lee’s huge game two weeks ago was just what’s been dogging this offense all season.

Lee broke out for 267 yards against Caldwell two weeks ago, but the offense slowed in a loss to Buckeye last week. It’s nothing more than just plain inconsistency, something head coach Chad Harkins knew would come but frustrates him nonetheless.

&uot;We haven’t been real consistent,&uot; Harkins said. &uot;We’ve got a lot of young guys playing, but that’s no excuse for the penalties we’ve had. We knew we lost a lot last year and knew we’d by young this year, but I feel like we’ve still got a good football team. If we get consistent, we can get to the playoffs and hopefully win a playoff game.&uot;

The offense struggled last week against Buckeye and was too penalty-prone in a loss to Ferriday. That game was riddled with illegal procedure and false start penalties, and that put the brakes on a Block drive that can wear you down.

The Bears have a better shot at playing better now that tonight’s game starts District 4-1A action. The Bears rolled up this district last year, starting off with an 82-8 win over Tallulah and winning the title by a combined score of 247-11.

&uot;If you win, you haven’t done much,&uot; Harkins said. &uot;If you lose, you really did nothing. I know Tallulah is better than they’ve been. It allows (our players) to get out there without much pressure on them. Maybe they can get consistent.&uot;

Lake Providence at Vidalia

VIDALIA, La. &045; Thanks to the closing of Crowville, every game in district may be homecoming for Lake Providence.

Well, for the opponents.

Lake P has struggled this season, and the game comes at maybe the right time for the Vikings, losers of two straight.