We have all had the daydream where it’s a big game and everything is going to come down to one final play. Don’t pinch Calvary Day School’s Tyrone Riley because he is not dreaming.
The Cavaliers were starting to peak, playing their best football going into the first week of December’s semifinal game; the winner was going to the Georgia Dome, the loser was starting basketball practice the following Monday.
Calvary met defending state champion Eagles Landing Christian School in the semi-finals, and the Cavaliers met a buzz saw head on. The Cavaliers established an early 21-0 lead, but ELCA stormed back, trailing by one point 35-34 in overtime. Not wanting to risk another overtime, after the Chargers scored on fourth down, ELCA decided to go for the two-point conversion for the win.
Chargers quarterback Bradley Dewberry stomps his left heel, sending a back into motion. Dewberry takes the snap, tries a little sleight of hand with a quick pump into the fullback’s chest, faking a dive play, and then peels back looking for daylight. The Cavaliers defense stands firm between the ELCA offense and the end zone. Dewberry finds an opening, and before he can get his cleat across the line of scrimmage, daylight closed. Playing the weak side linebacker, Riley charged hard into the hole. Riley and teammate Andre Wilson were all that stood between Dewberry and the win. After the two Cavaliers tag-teamed and stopped Dewberry cold, Calvary was on its way to the dome for the first time in history.
“I knew what he was going to run. They had scored off the keeper before, so as soon as the back went into motion, I knew they would fake the dive and try to keep the ball. No doubt it was the biggest hit of my career; we stopped them on the fourth down and goal in overtime, and it
got us to the Dome,” Riley said.
The obstacles that hit Calvary Day School early in the season made it seem like their season would end in coastal Georgia where it began on a hot night in August at M. D. Anderson field during zero week some three months earlier. Instead, the Cavaliers lost the first two games o
f the 2013 campaign, Calvary lost in a comeback effort to Landmark Christian, 30-22, and then was upended 40-29 by Bryan County.
“We made a decisi
on after the loss that everyone would have to step up. We made sure that every time we stepped on the fi
eld we would be intense. Then we just started to click, and we just worked hard,” Cavaliers running back Robert Heyward said.
Cavalier quarterback Michael Peterson had an arsenal of weapons, including Bulldog great Herschel Walker’s nephew Milan Richardson. Richardson, will be rubbing Howard’s Rock at Clemson this fall. However, running back/linebacker Heyward and weak side defensive end 6’6″ Tyrone Riley return to lead the Cavaliers in 2014. Calvary took the next eight games winning in rapid fire succession en route to a Region 3-A title, averaging 36 points per game while only giving up 16 points a game.
Heyward and Riley now come into their final season at Calvary. Heyward is a large back that inflicts the same pain on rival linebackers when he runs the ball. As a junior, Heyward is one of the most dominating running backs in Class A.
Playing in all 14 games last season, Heyward carried the ball 162 times for 1,442 yards and 10 touchdowns. He averaged 8.9 yards a carry and 103 yards rushing per game only fumbling the ball twice. His 6-foot, 195 pound frame bodes well for his running style which is physical and between the tackles. Heyward’s 4.5 40 and his size make him hard to bring down. He also has a bench press of 280 pounds and squats 420 pounds.
Against Johnson County for the region championship he broke a 71 yard touchdown run. He was the Savannah Morning News Player of the Week with a season high 182 yards on 17 carries with two receiving touchdowns and the 71 yard jaunt.
Heyward had six receiving touchdowns on the season. Receiving is an area that he has been working on this off season. He finished the season with 24 catches for 470 yards averaging 19.6 yard per catch.
Playing linebacker, Heyward gets to switch the roles using his body to inflict pain on rival running backs. On the season he finished with 121 total tackles, 99 solo tackles, 22 assisted and 12 tackles for loss. His linebacker play netted him the Savannah Quarterback Club Defensive Player of the Week.
A Georgia Sportswriters Association All State team selection, Heyward was a definitely a recruiting target for Division I and II schools. He has already been offered by Army and Charleston Southern. Georgia State, Middle Tennessee State, Towson, Charlotte, and Cincinnati have showed significant interest. Heyward is also getting some interest from Auburn and Mississippi State, in addition to a large number of Division II schools.
“I just want to thank Coach Stroud and my mom, Takiyah Martin, and Robert Heyward, Sr. for helping me to be a good person and football player. We know we have to work hard this season but our goal is going to be same as last: To play that final game in the Georgia Dome,” Heyward says.
Six foot six inches and 230 pounds Riley has pretty good control of the paint for the Cavaliers basketball team. He is getting more notice though from the patch of grass that he controls opposite an offensive tackle as the Cavaliers weak side defensive end.
Once that offensive tackle makes his initial power step the chances are Riley either has got his hands inside the tackle or is already getting separation prowling down the line of scrimmage and about to wrap a ball carrier. Around the fourth game last season, Riley started to pick up interest from some of the big boys of college football.
“Ole Miss started to talk me around the fourth game and this past winter and spring a lot of teams have talked to me this spring so it’s been fun but also made me want to work harder,” Riley says.
Ole Miss offered Riley a spot to be in the Grove as a Rebel beginning the fall of 2015. Mississippi State, NC State, Charlotte, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Old Dominion, Purdue, Utah, Wake Forest, Kentucky, Wake Forest, and Wisconsin have all offered Riley scholarships.
Not to be out done, University of Georgia, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Clemson, and Georgia Tech all came by to see him during spring practice.
Riley was part of a state finalist football team and the Cavaliers basketball team made it to the Final Four also.
“Our goal this year is to go back to the Georgia Dome this year but to win this season. We know we have got to keep working hard and getting better every snap. I have to thank Coach Tillman and Coach Keese for pushing me constantly and making me be the best that I can be,” Riley says.
CL-PS-0814-Heyward & Riley
Coastal-Player Spotlight
Robert Heyward & Tyrone Riley
Calvary Baptist Day School
Savannah, GA
By John Wood
(P) Charles Mills
Congratulations to Rob, Ty, and the entire Calvary family! I expect great things in their future.