Mark Stroud coached Calvary Day to many memorable wins in his first stint at the school.

The 2013 Class A Private state semifinals game, for instance.

The Cavaliers 20-0 victory Friday over Islands in Strouds return wont rank among the unforgettable. Yet for the coach, who spent last season leading his alma mater Swainsboro High only to come back to Savannah this summer, the win will stick with him a while.

Its just great to be back and to jump back in, said Stroud, who went 67-25 in eight previous seasons at Calvary. As for the game, we have to get better. The team. The coaches. Me. All of us.

Errors on both sides marred the season opener. The two teams combined for more than two dozen negative yardage plays and 14 penalties, while Islands committed two turnovers and lost a muffed punt.

The play was particularly uneven early. Calvary netted just six yards in the first quarter and 56 yards in the half, with just one drive of more than 20 yards. The Cavaliers lone first half score came on Alan Gibbs 32-yard field goal as the halftime horn sounded.

As for Islands (0-1), a solid game-opening drive ended in a lost fumble on Calvarys 20-yard line, and the offense never recovered. Heat and thunderstorms have limited the Sharks practice opportunities this month, and against an established team with a veteran defense Calvary returns seven starters from last years 10-1 team an out-of-synch offense sunk Islands chances.

Given the circumstances, its quite a challenge to get an offense to click, third-year coach Robert Zoller said. The strength of their defense is on the defensive line, and we thought we could do some things on the perimeter. We just couldnt do it consistently.

Calvarys halfback tandem of Jalen Leary and Jaydon Grant did their running damage between the tackles and kept the M.C. Anderson Field crowds attention. Leary ran for 112 yards, including 97 in the first half, while Grant added 70 yards and a touchdown.

Islands was led by sophomore quarterback James Shellman, who completed 8 of 15 passes for 66 yards.

IS|0|0|0|0||0

CD|0|3|14|3||20

CDAlan Gibbs 32 FG

CDJaydon Grant 11 run (Gibbs kick)

CDVince Grassi 1 run (Gibbs kick)

CDGibbs 36 FG

More here:

Calvary shuts out Islands in Stroud's return - Savannah Morning News