Lions beat Tigers in Jamboree

The Camden Lions started strong & kept on scoring against the Bruceton Tigers on Friday night at the Huntingdon Jamboree to finish with a 28-0 score.

The Jamboree format does not allow kickoff or punt returns in an effort to reduce injuries, so the Lions won the toss & took the football first at the 30. The Tigers weren't ready for what happened next. Michael Gaskin took the snap from Will Latendresse & pitched the ball to Andy Travis who was almost at the right end of the line; Andy read his blockers perfectly, made one move outside & sprinted down the right sideline to the 20 where he was knocked out of bounds! Great 60 yard play! Gaskin pitched it to Ross Dudley on the left edge; Ross added a move at the 5 & knocked a Tiger back into the end zone to score! The kick just missed right, but with 20 seconds off the clock, Camden is up 6-0! Great start, offense!

Camden's defense is on the field as Bruceton starts at the 30. They start with a dive into the center of the line, but Thomas Pierpoint & Dakota Summers meet him in the hole for only a gain of one. The Tiger ball carrier starts left, but Jordan Murphy & Dudley are 'way faster & it's a 6 yard loss, 3rd & 15. The Tigers jump before the snap & move it back five. The Tigers try a pass into the right flat, but Brandon Shannon & Summers are all over it, incomplete. The Lions go for the punt block & almost pull it off, but the ball rolls out of bounds at the Lions 48.

Camden's offense is back on the field, & they start with a 20 yard Gaskin run, but a block in the back moves it 5 yards the other way. Travis in motion to the right, takes the handoff, makes the cut at right end & speeds to the Tiger 45 before he is rolled out of bounds. Devon White dives behind Sean Ellis' block at right tackle for 3 yards. We line it up, Gaskin practices his "alternate" count & Bruceton jumps, CHS 1st & 10 at the Blue 37 yard line. 5:53 on the clock as Gaskin sells the fake handoff inside, pulls it out & rips the pass to Travis who is behind the defender at the left pylon, catch, trot into the end zone, Camden scores! Travis takes the ball around left end for the two point conversion & with 5:32 showing, Lions are rolling with a 14-0 lead.

Dakota Summers drills the first down runner as he trys the right side & the ball is loose! Murphy is on it & Camden has it at the Blue 33 yard line! A botched pitch/catch for the Lions offense gives Bruceton the ball back & they will start again at their own 39. The Tiger runner tries a run thru the right side of the line, but is met by a wrecking crew made up of Ellis, Dudley, Summers, and Pierpoint, no gain. The Tiger QB rolls left looking to pass, but Dudley has him in his sights and drops him after a 6 yard gain. Tigers jump, move it back 5. After a long incomplete pass that is covered by Travis & Chris Pagal, the Tigers line up to punt. Their punt rolls out at our 36 & the Lions offense takes over.

Gaskin feeds the ball to Pagal twice, keeps once, and watches Devon White, Travis, and Dudley run it down to the Tigers 19 yard line before the end of the "half". After the break, Jeremy Crawley works the quick hitter thru the line, thanks Mark Yarbro for nailing his block & gets to the 14. Pagal is surrounded as he slants thru the line, but drops his head & drives it close to a first. Zebras measure, we are 1" short. Gaskin has the fix, dives in behind Latendresse & Elias Nazi, Lions first down at the 10! Offensive Coordinator William Blow has the right call: Pagal takes the pitch headed around left end, is hit, but cuts into a seam & drives into the end zone to score! Pierpoint snaps, Gaskin holds, and Danny Kim has added one in 2008 to make it 21-0 with 8:29 left in the Jamboree.

The Lions defense delivers a three-and-out, but we just miss the punt block & the ball takes a Big Blue Tiger roll all the way down to the 9. Blake Riley is under center as Coach Ward offers some "young Lions" the chance to shine, and they answer with an 11 play scoring drive! Positive runs by Devon White & Sean Flores are followed by a 22 yard run by Kendrick Hudson that gives Camden a first down at the 26! Four plays later, Riley gives to Hudson headed right, he slants outside thru traffic, adds the inside cut thru daylight & scores! Kim's kick is good again & with only 45 seconds left to play its Camden 28, Bruceton 0. Lions defensive Coordinator Shawn McDowell keeps the shutout secure & the zeros show up on a long incomplete Tiger pass.

Some stats of interest:

CHS 218 yards of offense
Andy Travis – 3 rushes for 63 yards, 1 TD reception
Ross Dudley – 3 rushes for 34 yards, 1 TD
Devon White – 4 rushes for 37 yards
Kendrick Hudson – 2 rushes for 24 yards, 1 TD
Michael Gaskin – 1 pass for 37 yards, 1 TD
Dakota Summers – 5 tackles
Thomas Pierpoint – 2 tackles
John Yarbro – 2 tackles
Nick Ibarra – 2 tackles
Ross Dudley – 2 tackles
Sean Flores – 2 tackles

Talking with Lions Head Coach Kevin Ward about the teams' performance: "I thought we did everything we wanted to do executing our offense, played good solid defense, thought we read our cues pretty well. The defense ran to the football all night & didn't give up any big plays; held them in check, for the most part. We were able to play a lot of kids, and if you can rack up over 200 yards in two quarters, that's pretty good! We had a good night rushing the ball."

On the "team speed" that was very evident tonight: "We are a little quicker than we were last year, maybe not quite as big. We think that our quickness might overcome that, a little bit. We are playing a lot of young kids, defensively. Our front four, two are sophomores & one's a junior, we have a junior at middle linebacker, of those seven, four will be back next year & we are working some even younger guys in as back ups. We should be decent for the next few years at these defensive positions if we can get some guys to step up & progress like we think they can."

On the speed of play & the overall "well oiled" appearance of the offense: "That's something we have worked on, we wanted to try to be the most polished & organize football team there tonight, & I thought we did that. Changed the snap count up & it worked getting them to jump offsides a few times. It was good to watch this young offense under the lights without a coach in the huddle. It gives us another chance to evaluate our kids & see what we need to get done this next week."

On the upcoming home season opener against Trenton: "They lost a tough one tonight, 35-34 in a week 0 game, but they will get things right before next Friday. They probably lost to a team they shouldn't have, plus having to come down here, and we beat them last year, they will be ready to play us. I know they will play better, just because they have one game's experience. There is always a big jump in execution to game 2. Hopefully we will improve between our first & second game."

On the home field advantage: "I hope everyone will come out! 7:30 start & we want the stands to be full. On Thursday night, CJH opens with a game against Trenton here, so it's a good chance for our fans to see what we have coming up in that game, then come back on Friday to watch the varsity. We hope for a big crowd. We have made a lot of improvements to our stadium & have a lot to be proud of. Hopefully, our fans will come out & see facilities that they can also be proud of. I know Trenton will bring a big crowd. It is a non-region game & doesn't really have any playoff ramifications, but you always want to win your season opener! We want to focus on Trenton; it was good to win the Jamboree, but that is history. This team will have to play good solid football next Friday night to win their season opener."

Let's all get to Wright Field early & be loud as our Lions take on the Trenton Peabody Golden Tide in the 2008 season home opener!

GO LIONS!