FERRIDAY, La. &045; Coaches at Ferriday kept steady during this three-game win streak with one simple plea: just make plays.

Even if it took just one play, that could be enough. And on a night where the a steady rain turned Melz Field into 100 yards of vegetable oil, one play was plenty as the Trojans claimed a 6-0 win over Calvary Academy to snap their losing skid.

You can’t fault the Trojans for struggling to make plays at times in the conditions, but it went both ways. They got a key play in the fourth quarter for the game’s only score for the win.

&uot;It was sloppy out there, and it really hampered a lot of things we wanted to do,&uot; Ferriday head coach James McFarland said. &uot;It was going to come down to who makes the most plays &045; we’ve been trying to preach that to them. It’s always good to win. Morale was down for us, and for us to come out with a win in these conditions, we have some confidence now.

&uot;It’s a good feeling. I tell you what &045; I feel a whole lot better this week than I did last week.&uot;

The conditions were conducive to good defenses, and that’s what both teams for most of the night. Calvary played with a number of starters out with injury, including quarterback Alan Rogers and top receiver Justin Poole, and used a number of freshmen and sophomores.

The Trojans were limited, too, with quarterback Scotty Cage playing for the first time in two weeks after missing last week with an illness. The senior sat most of the game with sophomore Terrance Johnson playing quarterback, but Cage came on in the fourth quarter when the Trojans needed it.

Cage hit Montago Tennessee and Alonzo Booth on passes for first downs for the Trojans after starting at their own 13. A 15-yard pass to Montago Tennessee got down to the Calvary 28, but the Cavaliers didn’t budge in the next three plays to hold the Trojans to fourth down at the 27.

McFarland and the Trojans called timeout, and Cage then hit Booth in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown at the 9:40 mark for the only score of the game.

&uot;I knew it was going to be wet, but the only thing my aunt and my mom told me to do was pray on it,&uot; Cage said. &uot;I put God first, and luckily we came through. We called a timeout, talked it over and came up with a big play. My heart goes out to the offensive line. They hung in there and gave me time to throw the ball.&uot;

It was all the scoring needed in a game like this, but the Cavaliers refused to go quietly. The conditions and replacement personnel kept their passing game grounded a bit, but they answered with their most productive drive of the game.

A pass interference call got Calvary past midfield, and two key plays on third down kept the drive alive.

Quarterback Bridger Smithers converted that second third down and on a 23-yard gain down to the 3, and the James Michael Miller got to the 2.

From there things went backward &045; Demetrius White threw Miller for a 7-yard loss, Smithers threw a lateral that went out of bounds and then threw incomplete on fourth down.

&uot;I prayed for rain all week &045; seriously, I did,&uot; Calvary head coach Johnny Booty said. &uot;We’ve got some young ninth-graders and eighth-graders we’re playing, and they’re really good young kids. They’re going to be a force to be reckoned with in a couple of years. We’re just a little light in the pants. Our starters could not play, and (Smithers) came in and did a fine job.&uot;

That was the biggest drive the Cavaliers had, and neither team really moved the ball well outside of those two drives.

The Trojans got to the Calvary 26 in the third quarter before eventually turning it over on downs, and the Cavaliers got inside the 25 twice before that final drive but could not get the snap down on field goal tries both times.

Smithers completed just four of 11 passes for 19 yards.

&uot;You know, defense wins games,&uot; McFarland said. &uot;No doubt about it. The guys toughened up, and we were able to stop them. That’s what won us the game. On film, in dry weather they did spread and ball out and pass 70-80 percent. But the ball was slippery, and we knew they couldn’t throw as much as they had in the past. We never did, either.&uot;