Camden Lions

Game Highlights for Montgomery, 30-14

The CHS Lions lost their home opener to the Montgomery Central Indians last Friday night after a perfect opening ceremony honoring 9-11. The National Guard provided a Color Guard and fired a howitzer round to punctuate the end of the National Anthem played by the CHS Band. The 101st Airborne parachuted the game ball onto Wright Field and presented it to the Camden Lions game captains, Ben Tinkle, Ryne Haynie, Daniel Woodall, and Shane Corbitt. Special thanks to all that combined to make this ceremony exciting and memorable! The Spirit Line was long and loud, and Camden was on the field to kick it away. Clay Carruth booted it deep, and Woodall combined with Maurice Gastelum to put an Injun down at their 33.

M-C runs the stack-I with three backs lined up in the backfield, and it was the second back over left tackle that John Hodge dropped after a pickup of 4. Justin Smith invited himself into their backfield and combined with Hodge for a loss of 1, 3rd &7. They try a pass…bad decision by them…Maurice Gastelum is in position in the right flat and dives for the interception! Camden ball at their 40!

Camden comes out throwing, and Senior Quarterback Ben Tinkle just misses Brock Martin for the home run ball, and it is 2nd & 10. Josh Guajardo is in motion left to right, takes the handoff from Tinkle, and cuts around right end for 6. Josh Boyd tries the middle, but a whole tribe of Indians is waiting, and it is 4th & 5. Tinkle lines ‘em up and tries to make ‘em jump with the long hard count, but they don’t bite and it’s a Camden timeout. Line it up again, and Josh Boyd makes left end and runs hard for a Camden first down at their 27! Great play!

The fake handoff and give to Boyd doesn’t go, but Josh’s second effort makes it a pickup of one. Tinkle rolls out to the right, and passes to Ryne Haynie in the right flat! Ryne bangs his way down to the 14 where it’s first down Lions! Heath Yoder busts the middle of the line behind the blocks of Josh Beasley, Jeremy Stokes, and John Hodge for a pickup of 8! Great run! Ryne Haynie takes the misdirection up the middle, makes one miss, and slides in for the score! Touchdown Black & Gold! Daniel Woodall snaps it, Brian Markham holds it, Clay Carruth drills it, and with 7:09 left in the first, it is Camden in the lead, 7-zip!

John Hodge and Shane Corbitt combine for the stop on the kick returner at the 36, and the Injuns offense blasts out ready to roll. First play is a run that slants over the right side of the line for a huge gain when he hits the right sideline. Ryne Haynie is the only guy that could catch him, and he runs him down at the 11. Heath Yoder blows thru the M-C line and makes a huge stop for a loss of 3. They fake it left and go right, right into Shane Corbitt, loss of 1, and it is 3rd &14. They throw the fade pass into the left corner of the end zone, Gastelum is there, and it is incomplete. They boot the field goal thru, but thanks to a tough stand by the defense, it is 7-3 Lions with 5:08 left in the first.

Daniel Woodall fields the short kick and runs up the middle to our 37. The Lions offense gets bushwhacked, and Tinkle punted it to their 45 with no return. M-C starts the “student body left” with all three backs headed that way…and it is looking way TOO good, but Ryne Haynie strings out the play and makes a superb solo stop after only two! Last back up the middle runs into Shawn French, and it is 3rd & 3. The stack I goes left, Kyle Moore and Justin Smith combine for the stop, but it’s enough for the first down. The run over the middle goes ‘way down the field to our 30, and the next run makes it all the way, touchdown Indians. Kick is good and with 56 seconds left in the first it’s 10-7 Indians.

Josh Boyd grabs the pigskin, makes three miss up the middle, cuts to the left sideline, and walks the line all the way to their 21! Great runback! Josh Guajardo eases over the right side for 1. Ben Tinkle rolls out, doesn’t see any throws that look as good as a run, and he sprints down the left sideline to the 14. We need the 11, and Ryne Haynie dives in behind Josh Beasley for almost enough, 4th and a foot. Lions are going for it, Ben Tinkle puts the snap in his pocket and pushes the pile for a first down! Boyd gets tomahawked for no gain. The pass to Woodall is incomplete, and then an interception is carried out to the 23 where the Injuns start first and 10.

The defense jumps, and it is 1st & 5 on the 28. Kyle Moore talks Maurice Gastelum into some fun and they nail the tailback for no gain. Woodall wants to play, and his blitz up the middle is mostly perfect for an Indian catchin’ and they are moving backwards! 3rd &8. They try that sneaky long count thing, we don’t jump, and it is an M-C time out. The motion left turns into a pitch, and might have been a big gainer, but Josh Guajardo pulls out the long arm of the law, and makes an excellent one-handed tackle for a big loss! You could see it coming…they line up for the punt, Lions are breaking thru everywhere, and Shawn French blocks the punt! He recovers in the end zone, and it is six for Camden! Carruth is perfect, and with 7:43 showing, it’s Camden on top 14-10.

The game was suspended due to a severe lightning storm nearby for about 45 minutes. Both teams left the field, and eventually both stands cleared. About 9 PM, the officials decided to play it out, and Carruth kicked it to the 30. After a five-yard return, Shane Corbitt dotted that Indians eye, and it was first down their team. They must have done a war dance during the break, because eight plays later, they punched the ball in for the score. Kick is good, and with 4:32 left in the 2nd, the score is 17-14 M-C. The Lions offense just can’t get rolling, and Tinkle’s punt is returned to their 45 where Maurice Gastelum hangs on for the tackle.

The Camden defense is up to the task, and Josh Guajardo has a blitz going on. He grabs the third back thru, hangs on & rides him down after a gain of 4. The Indians were guilty and convicted of holding, and it is first and about 18. The third back thru the line has the ball again, and John Hodge teams with Gastelum to lead the stop on their 45. Smith and Shawn French are there to make it 3rd & 11. The Indian QB rolls right, spots a man in the flat, but Ryne Haynie breaks on the ball perfectly, and it drops incomplete. 37 seconds left, they line up for the punt, Guajardo breaks thru to rush the punter, and they down it at our 23. Boyd runs it twice, and both teams go into the shortened half time with the Indians on top, 17-14.

No band performance due to the inclement weather and both teams are back on the field. They line it up on the right hash, and kick it short to Gastelum. Maurice runs and cuts all the way to our 36 where Camden will start the second half. The Lions offense can’t get its claws in the ground, and Tinkle’s punt is downed at their 44. The Black & Gold defense has some juice left, and Woodall combines with Shawn French to bowl the back on his back to make it 2nd & 10! Great play! Smitty and Guajardo meet the run up the middle after a gain of 4. They try a pass, and as the QB drops back Guajardo’s second effort is enough to get him down, SACKED! They trot their punter out, Ryne Haynie fields it, makes one big cut, the second cut turns into a slip, and the Lions start at our 30. Josh Boyd bangs over the right side for a pickup of 6. Haynie motion left, makes the right cut, and dives for a first down at our 40! Boyd is ambushed, and then an incomplete pass is followed by another Boyd run up the middle to make it 4th & 2…time out Lions to talk. Just can’t take the chance, so Tinkle is set to punt…no wait… Woodall’s snap is to the up back Ryne Haynie and he runs up the middle to their 49 where it’s first down Camden! Academy Awards to all!

The Lions start with Haynie left for four. Boyd starts left, turns it up the middle, and makes an Indian pay after getting six yards. Yoder gets the delayed handoff, and is swamped by Injuns, loss of 1. Haynie drops in behind John Hodge, and dives for the first down! 3:10 left in the third, and Yoder drives for two. Boyd right for only one. Tinkle’s pass is pressured, and Woodall isn’t able to come down with it, so it’s 4th & 7 on the 33…and we are going for it. Tinkle pitches it to Boyd, Josh fakes one Indian out of his head dress and finishes with a big dive forward. It’s not quite enough and with 1:39 left in the third, the ball goes over on downs at their 27.

Yardage comes in big chunks, and four plays later and a kick it’s 24-14 M-C. Woodall handles the short kick, and he makes it to our 39. Boyd slants inside and is hit hard for no gain to finish the third quarter. Tinkle starts the final period with a bullet pass that hits Brock Martin in stride, and Brock file the bullet away and scampers to the 50 before he is tackled! First down Air-Lions! Boyd in motion, but slips as he cuts and only gains two. Boyd, same play other way, slips on the cut again after gaining four. The screen pass from Tinkle to Haynie gains about ten, but an illegal procedure penalty makes it 3rd & 9. Tinkle is pressured, but is able to get it to Haynie and he dives forward to make it 4th & 3. We line it up and do the hard count, they don’t buy it this time, and it’s a Camden time out. We line it up to go for the first, the hand off is to Boyd, he picks his way down the left side, sees a hole, and dives under the stop to make it first down Lions at the 38! Great run!

Boyd follows student body right, but he is caught from behind before he can clear the backfield and it is 2nd & 8. An illegal grounding call moves us back, and Tinkle gets a backside block from John Hodge that breaks him for a pickup of 7. The home run pass to Maurice Gastelum just misses, and the ball goes over on downs. The M-C offense is on preheat, and five plays later it is 30-14. The M-C coach makes an interesting call and goes for two off the fake kick, but Keith Leslie drills the holder short of the goal line and it is 30-14 Indians.

Camden is able to take the kick and drive all the way to the 14, but the throw into the end zone with 50 seconds remaining is intercepted and downed, and it is M-C’s ball at the 20. They run out the clock with two QB keepers, and it’s a ballgame.

The Lions travel to Parsons to battle the Riverside Panthers. Let’s all make the journey south to support our team in Regional play.

GO LIONS!

(Photos by Tony Dillon)

Click HERE to view the Gallery. Video Clips: Boyd carry left | 3 to 33 screen pass | Josh Markham