4 Sept 09
The Camden Lions found they had Indians on Wright Field that were ready to get the District 11AA play started. Camden opened district play against the 1-0 Harpeth Indians from Kingston Springs. The Indians were coming off of a blowout victory over Hickman County (56-13) and the Lions were fresh off of a road win at Bruceton & a close season opening win over McKenzie. The Lions needed to get the 2009 district record started off right...
The Lions started strong with a 10-play scoring drive. Derek Easley ran the kick back to the 32 & the Lions offense used all runs to move the ball down field. The drive included big runs by Michael Gaskin for 15 and 18 yards, while a Derek Easley run (plus a hold on Harpeth) gave the Lions a first down at the 10. Three plays later, Coach Ward wanted to discuss the weather & other important facts of life with his offense & called a time out. On the next play, Derek took the ball around left end for the score! The Indians got a block on the PAT attempt, but with 6:02 showing in the 1st period clock, Lions were on top 6-0!
An out of bounds kick gave Harpeth a 35-yard line start. After a short run for two & a Blake Riley stop, the Indians were thinking maybe an air attack was the way to beat the Lions. Pass complete & Sean Flores makes the stop at the 47, 1st down Indians. Trevor Latendresse nails the Indian QB for a loss at the 44. Harpeth gets the time out called before the clock hits zero - - close, anyways - - and they complete a pass to our 46, 3rd & 2. The refs throw in a sidelines warning for good measure & the clock is reset to 3:15...whew, let's play ball. Sean is there in coverage & almost snags an Indian pass, incomplete. The Indian punter is on the field, a fumbled snap & the Lions have the ball at the Indians 41!
Michael believes they should have to pay quickly & spots Derek in the right flat; pass is there, good catch, score! Michael runs the 2-point conversion in and with 2:36 left in the 1st, the score is Camden 14, Harpeth 0.
The Indians start at the 35 again & run the sweep out of the shotgun. Devon & Larry Jamison put ‘em down after only one. Trevor wants some of that & sacks their QB back for a loss! An incomplete pass has the punter back on the field & Derek calls for the fair catch back at the Lions 25. Solid series, defense!
An incompletion plus a holding flag moves us back to the 16 to end the first quarter. Gaskin keeps & zooms thru traffic to the 45, 1st down! Devon White pounds the middle for 8. An incomplete pass is followed by Devon inside, 1st down Camden! Gaskin rolls right, looks downfield, tucks it away & sprints to the 28, 1st down! Yet another holding flag moves it to the 36...which gives Gaskin just enough room to fake the handoff to Devon and run back left all the way across the field to score! Gaskin takes the long snap, practices his juggling act and then runs to the right pylon for a two-point conversion! Lions 22, Indians 0.
The Lions rekick from the 40 & the Indians start at their 37. LJ & Cody Robin drop the runner for a loss of 3. The refs flag the Indians for an illegal sub & they are in a hole. Two incomplete passes later, their punt is away & the Lions will start at their 33.
A holding flag is followed by an interception and the Indians will start at the 15. An Indian fumble is recovered by Camden at the 48! The Lions string together a 9-play scoring drive that ends with Michael having all the time he needs to find Patrick Hassell over the middle for the 33-yard scoring pass! Dee Dunlap has the snap, Gaskin sets it up and Summers bangs the kick thru! With 49 seconds left on the Wright Field clock, it's Lions 29, Indians 0.
The Indians return Dakota's kick to the 37 where Jackson Burns leads the stop. Dee nails the pitch man for a loss of 2. An incomplete pass is followed by a QB run to the 50, Michael drops him & both teams head into the locker room for the break.
The Indians receive the kick to start the last half & the returner is squashed by Cody, Blake, and Jackson Burns. The defense forces the punt, and Kendrick Hudson returns it to the 45! Add in a facemask on Harpeth & the Lions have a first at the Indians 39. The Lions fight their thru the penalty monsters & assemble a 5-play scoring drive that ends with Gaskin's pitch to Maurice Whitfield. Maurice has the ball secured and dances in for the 16-yard score...and no flags! Summers drills the extra point & the clock starts running with the Mercy Rule in affect. Later in the 4th quarter, the Indians scoop up a fumble and 3 plays later a completed pass scores. Their kick is good, and the final score is posted CHS 36, HHS 7.
Some stats of interest:
First downs – CHS 18, HHS 4
Rushing (att/yds) – CHS 43/234, HHS 14/ -5
Passing (yds) – CHS 74, HHS 105
Passing (comp/att/int) – CHS 2/4/1, HHS 8/17/1
Fumbles (#/lost) – CHS 5/3, HHS 1/1
Penalties (#/yds) – CHS 13/104, HHS 5/40
Passing: Michael Gaskin 2 of 4 for 74 yards & 2 TD's
Receiving: Derek Easley 1 catch for 41 yards
Rushing: Devon White 8 carries for 64 yards
Defensive stats:
Kyle Blackburn 10 total tackles, 2 solo
Larry Jamison 8 total tackles, 2 sacks
Tyler Plant 5 total tackles, 1 solo, 1 fumble recovery
Talking with Lions Head Football Coach Kevin Ward after the game about the "rash" of Camden penalties:"Some of it was silly mistakes that put us in bad situations. Our guys don't understand if they are blocking on the edge & it's kind of a stalemate, when you move your man to the outside they will call holding. We moved before the snap, we lined up wrong, just mental mistakes. We have to fix these things in order to be a good team - this year! I know our kids will work hard at it, it was just a situation where a lot of small things came in bunches tonight & made it look bad, at times. We lost our focus a little when the clock started running, penalties, didn't take care of the football, just a lot of things that good teams don't do when they have a team down. My hat is off to Harpeth, they DIDN'T quit tonight when really, the game was over."
On the play of the offensive line:
"We got some better tonight. Pass protection was good, not great but an improvement. Gave our QB time to make some reads & make some good throws. Our line has to keep improving so we can throw it, and we have to throw it to keep getting better."
On the performance of the defense tonight:
"Any time you can hold a team to -5 rushing, man that is great! Looking for this squad to keep on improving; we will need it for Westview next week."
On next week's game at UTV v/s Westview:"We will have to eliminate mistakes, turnovers, penalties like we saw them tonight; need to create some turnovers of our own. Westview is the best 0-3 team in the state, I think! Coach Coady will have his team ready to play, I know that. It will be tough to go down there & win."
Let's all mount up our road horses & get to UT-Martin's field in time to be loud for our Lions victory over the Westview Chargers!
GO LIONS!
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