Lions win season home opener 35-7

The Camden Lions defeated the Trenton Peabody Golden Tide 35-7 after a tough week of events in Trenton. A Trenton player, Matt Morris, was tragically killed in an auto accident last weekend. Matt was a spirited leader of the team & had performed at a high level in the Week zero game. Less than 12-hours later, Bill Haney also passed. Bill's son, Tim Haney, is the principal at Trenton. Bill was a long-time high school sports supporter & radio announcer that loved high school football. After canceling the CJH-Trenton game on Thursday due to memorial services, it was truly a testament to the coaches & players that the team was in Camden for the game Friday night. Both teams & fans remembered these two important members of the Trenton athletic community with a moment of silence before the game.

The Camden team captains on the field for the coin toss were Ross Dudley, Andy Travis, Will Latendresse, and Davie Miller. We won & take the football. That was the right thing to do, as Andy Travis fielded the high kick, moved up field behind blocks, added one move to the left, cut thru the line & raced down the right sideline to score! Thomas Pierpoint snapped it, Michael Gaskin held it, and Danny Kim nailed a spinner high into the new ball nets to give Camden a 7-0 lead with 13 clicks gone off the clock!

Trenton fields Kim's high spinner at the right sideline with a knee down, so they start at the 29. Their "monster back" Rossie Jones dives into the middle for 3 yards before Jordan Murphy corrals him. Their scat-back checks out left end & gains 3 before Dakota Summers & Murphy make the stop at their 35, 3rd & 4. Rossie breaks thru the middle & is gone for the score, kick is good, and with 10:16 on the clock, it's all tied up at 7.

Ballgame! Any thoughts about Trenton not showing up suddenly leave Benton County!

The Trenton kick is handled by Andy Travis at the left sideline. He is able to make one quick move to the inside before being dragged down at the 25 with 10:09 showing. Travis loses two on first down, but the delay hand off from Gaskin to Ross Dudley gets him around right end for a gain of 6, 3rd & 7. Trenton jumps on the hard-count, 3rd & 2. Jeremy Crawley takes the handoff on the quick hit inside, slides off of Mark Yarbro & Sean Ellis's block thru a seam & drives a Tide player for the first down at our 40! Crawley again for 6 yards. Travis is stuffed for no gain, 3rd & 4 at the 46. Ross Dudley follows his blocks around left end & has a first down at the Tide 43. Gaskin sells the fake handoff to perfection & Dudley works the counter play just like it's on a white board, breaks free down the left side line & has a first down at the 15! Crawley is stopped for a loss, 2nd & 11 with 5:45 left in the 1st. Gaskin works his sleight of hand, Crawley goes right, but Travis has the ball & is slanting left for a 1st down at the 6! Dudley is stacked up in the middle after a gain of 3. Crawley drops in behind the blocks of Will Latendresse, Shaun Ellis, & Mark Yarbro to score! Thomas snap, Michael hold, Danny kick, Camden up 14-7! Great drive, offense!

Time for the Lions defense to deliver a stop.

Got it.

Kim's high spinning kick is rollin' around on the ground at the 10 & Brandon Shannon is able to make the stop at the 24. Trenton's big back starts around left end, but John Yarbro & Dakota offer some reverse momentum after only one. Same back, same side, this time Ross & Dakota get him after one, 3rd & 8 at the 26 with 3:10 showing. An incomplete pass in the left flat brings out the punt team, but movement before the snap moves them back five. The punt from the 9 hits a low spiral & a Tide roll all the way to our 20, turning the field around!

2:50 left in the quarter & Andy Travis starts the drive with a slant thru left tackle, has two downfield blocks & Go! Right sideline is his friend & is pushed out at the Lions 47, first down! Devon White is stopped inside no gain & a flag for an "illegal shift" is called & declined by Trenton to make it 3rd & 8 at the 49. Chris Pagal is in motion right to left, takes the handoff from Gaskin, has the corner & is gone for a 1st down at the Tide 40! Great play...Trenton takes a time out to talk it over. They didn't really have the answer, as Gaskin sells the fake handoff going the other way, pulls it out & throws it to Andy Travis all alone down the right sideline, score! Snap, hold, kick all good & with 1:10 left in the 1st, the Lions are up 21-7.

Danny kicks it to the 5 & gets some running room before Crawley & Shannon drill him at the 13. The Camden defense is up to another 3 & out with big stops by Pierpoint, Summers, Murphy & Trevor Latendresse & their punt rolls dead at the Lions 46 with 11:35 left in the half.

The Black & Gold offense strings together a seven-play scoring drive that starts with a Crawley run – called back due to a hold, 1st & 20 at the 36. Crawley & the offensive line grabs it right back with a dive thru the middle, 2nd & 7. False start called, move it back 5. Gaskin rolls left, spots Summers slanting into the left flat, pass complete and Dakota is able to make one miss before being ridden down at the Trenton 26, 1st down! 10:00 showing as White sweeps left end for a gain of 5. Crawley bangs in behind Ellis, Latendresse, and Nazi for two. We jump, 3rd & 8 at the 24. Andy Travis ends up with the double handoff, starts right, adds a hard left & gains it back. Hmmm...4th & 3...what to do...score! Gaskin to Travis, blockers give him the left edge, he spots a seam, dances along the left sideline & has the end zone! Danny Kim nails it high into the net & with 7:40 left in the 1st half, Camden takes a 28-7 lead.

Kim's high spinning kick is on the ground again & a pride of Lions stop the runner at the 30. Trenton pulls out the stops & is looking to get some offense started with some passing. An incomplete pass is followed by a time out just as the new end zone 25 second clocks go to zero. Their big back is loose in the backfield & Andy is able to get him on the ground at the 47, 1st down. A flare pass our 45 is complete before Pierpoint & Dudley make the stop. A delay of game rolls the Tide back five before Nick Ibarra has his first of three tipped passes for the night from his right line backer position! Their big back blasts thru for a first down before Travis & Patrick Hassell can get him stopped at the 36, but its enough for a 1st down. Their screen pass looks a little too promising, but Brandon Shannon & Thomas Pierpoint converge after only 5. Dudley & Summers stop a run up the middle for one & with 4th & 4, the Tide QB keeps for the 1st at the 18.

Time for a stop, defense!

Larry Jamison & Nick Ibarra have the inside hand off figured out, meet in backfield, loss of 3. The Tide QB muffs the pitch, big pile up & Jordan Murphy has the ball for Camden! Lions ball at the 29 yard line! With two minutes left before the break, Camden muddles thru it's worst looking offensive series of the young season, but is still able to get into the half with possession & a 28-7 lead.

The Trenton band performs first before the brand new Camden Lions Marching Band is on the field for it's 1st onfield performance of the 2008 season with field direct Marcus Coleman and new band director Michael Nelson. The Camden fans responded to a strong performance called "Cirque du Soleil" and both teams were headed out of the Field House. Davie Miller was at midfield to assure them that we would kick it off to start the second half, and Danny Kim did just that. Trevor Latendresse connects for the stop at the 30 & the Lions defense is on the field.

The Tide offense starts off with another short pass...and Nick responds with another tipped pass! Incomplete, 2nd down. Dudley & Shannon stay at home to zero out the screen pass for a loss of 4. Trenton moves, back ‘em up. Trevor breaks thru & has the QB in his sights, the pass is away, this time Ross Dudley has the tip...and the spinning catch! Interception at the Tide 29!

The Lions offense is ready to cash in on the short field, as Andy finds a seam off of Elias Nazi & Davie Miller's blocks, cut right & is rolled down at the 26. Jeremy Crawley pushes thru & adds one. Travis around left end to the 20. Michael Gaskin adds a new twist on the QB sneak, you know, where the quarter back finds some little gap to get the nose of the football JUST over the line...Sean, Will, & Elias knock ‘em back & Ross has the first at the 15, great play! Ross is hit in the backfield, the zebras add a holding call & it's 2nd & 20 at the 25.

No problem.

Gaskin rolls left, spots Ethan Melton slanting left in the end zone & hits him with the pass for a score in the left corner of the end zone! Danny's kick is good & with 7:14 left in the 3rd quarter, Camden is up 35-7.

The Camden defense is able to keep Trenton out of the end zone for the remainder of the game & some young Lions are able to play against the Trenton 1st string. Both coaches sub freely to end the game with Kendrick Hudson recovering a fumble as the Wright Field clock goes to all-zeros.

Some stats of interest:
First downs: CHS15, Trenton 4
Rushing: CHS 48 for 287 yards, T 23 for 114
Penalties: CHS 9 for 60; T 6 for 35
Fumbles/Lost: CHS 2/0; T 1/1

CHS Passing:
Michael Gaskin 3 of 3 for 99 yards, 1 TD

Receiving leaders:
Andy Travis 1 for 41 yards, 1 TD

Rushing leaders:
Jeremy Crawley 11 rushes for 71 yards, 1 TD

Leading tacklers:
Ross Dudley: 8 tackles, 1 solo, 1 for loss, 1 interception
Dakota Summers: 8 tackles, 1 sack
Nick Ibarra: 4 tackles, 3 batted passes

Talking with Head Football Coach Kevin Ward after the victory:
"It was a good win for us; I thought our kids played extremely hard, probably a B-, C+ performance. At times we made some very smart plays, sometimes, well, we didn't look good at all. It was a very tough week for Trenton & really a tough week for me & our staff preparing for this game knowing what they were going thru (with the loss of Morris & Haney). The relationship that I have with (Trenton Head Coach) Kent Scott & his staff, you just feel for those two families & the whole Trenton football family. It was real tough to get excited about playing this game, but we must all go on & this game is part of it. Knowing the whole time what their team was going thru & that this game really doesn't matter as much. A lot of times I lose sight of that. We prayed everyday after practice for them. We are glad to have this one behind us & we are going to try to get better this week."

About the way that the Trenton players started their warm ups:
"I was talking with Kent before the game, & he kind of choked up & said "I've gotta' go, this is going to be special." So, I just watched to see what was going to happen. As the team came onto the field, they hooked arm-in-arm all the way across the field at the goal line with Coach Scott in the middle. They walked from the goal line out to the 28 (Matt Morris' jersey number) yard line & did all of their stretching as a memorial to him. You just get emotional talking about it, it's something that I hope I never have to face, but the longer I coach, you just know the odds increase. I know that I would have people to rely on like Coach Scott if it did. I have great respect for him, we were able to coach together in the All-Star game & we have a good relationship, it makes this profession special."

About Coach Kent talking with the Lions in their post-game huddle at midfield:
"He wanted to talk to our team afterwards & it was special. He encouraged each one to go hug the people that are special in their lives, moms, dads, brothers & sisters, as well as team mates. When they go into the locker room, let them know how you feel because you never know when you might not see them again. He talked about how classy a group of players that Camden had, coaches, program, it just means a lot that he took the time to try to teach us and thank us. It really meant a lot to me. I didn't have to talk to my coaches & players about "how" to act, they were already touched & wanted to respond properly. I have to thank my coaches for their extra effort and prayers all week."

On Camden's quick start:
"We started off with a bang, we don't always expect to run a kick back, we work for it & hope that it will happen...and tonight Andy found a seam & out ran them all! We have been working extremely hard on special teams, especially this week. The guys up front set a good wedge & it worked. Good teams respond to the flow & Trenton did, coming right back with a score of their own & tied it up. We knew it was going to be a battle. That's why we schedule this kind of team for our non-region games! Maybe some of the mistakes are the kind of first game jitters that you are going to get, so we will work hard this week to eliminate all we can before Riverside."

On Camden's "almost" shut out:
"We took some back angles on their TD run, read some keys wrong, but a good back in the open field is going to outrun you just like that. After that play, we settled down & quit over pursuing & were able to hold him in check. I am very proud of our defense & the way they responded after that score. We shut them out the rest of the game, and that is a credit to Coach McDowell & all of the assistants that are coaching those positions on defense. We made a couple adjustments at the half, settled them down & talked about some of the things they were doing wrong. You have to have a response from the players to what the coaches are doing & we were able to do that tonight. We kind of found our wind a little & renewed our effort, because we knew Trenton was going to come back out ready to go & play hard."

On the improved kicking game:
"It has improved. The kickoff team can get better, kept them inside the 35 all night, better. The extra points were kicked really well, congrats to Thomas, Michael and Danny! Good height, using all of that net! It's all about timing & they were together tonight. Danny made good steps & had a good punch on the ball. Very proud of Danny, he has been very frustrated with his own performance. We have had some help from some in the community that have kicked in college, hopefully he can continue to improve. Only one punt tonight, but had a good snap from Thomas & Michael Gaskin hit it well."

On the crowd:
"Our stands were full, glad for that & Trenton brought a good crowd. They had a huge band, I was told, just overall a good night for High School football. Very proud of the support that we have in this community, Camden loves their Lions football! I am very fortunate to be coaching right now, hopefully they will continue to support our kids & be proud of what they are doing & how we as staff are doing it!"

On next week's region opener against Riverside:
"This week, we will be able to look at 40+ plays & really find out what we need to work on. I told our team, this week didn't make our season! We have a tough region game next week & we need a good hard week of practice to be ready. Same coach, we would expect the same type system as last year, we know they will be ready for us down there."

Let's all follow the Lions to Parsons as they do battle with the Riverside Panthers next Friday night!

GO LIONS!