CAMDEN — By PATRIC FLANNIGAN
Sports editor
Things were pretty tight when Camden Fairview (4-3 3-1) hosted the DeQueen Leopards (1-6, 1-3) for Homecoming last Friday night.
The Cardinals found themselves down 21-20 at the top of the fourth quarter before the power running game ultimately toppled the visiting team, 49-28.
“It was cleaner than it was last week,” CF Head Coach Jake Monden said. “We didn’t have near as many holding calls and false starts. The mental penalties. So I was happy with that.”
DeQueen came in unintimidated and scored on its first possession to take a 7-0 lead early in the first. The Leopards would threaten to go up by 10 but CF’s Kayveon Kelly blocked a field goal.
Eventually, the Cardinals would get on the score board when Erik Hall punched in a 6 yard run with 3:37 remaining in the half. The PAT was no good and the Cardinals still trailed, 7-6.
The momentum would switch in CF’s favor after the defense forced a turnover on downs on its own 26 yard line. A couple of plays later, Keith Johnson would find Qwaishaun Thompson on a short route and Thompson would make a man miss and race down the sideline for a 63 yard touchdown to give the Cardinals a 12-7 lead just before the half.
The Cardinals really looked like they were going to take over when they came out in the second half and scored on the first play from scrimmage when Gabe Rucks got loose running down the visitors sideline for an 80 yard touchdown. Gunner Branch would find Jaden Bates in the end zone to add the 2-point conversion and give the Cardinals a 20-7 lead.
“We were fortunate to be ahead 12 to 7 at half time,” Monden said. “Qwaishaun Thompson made a nice play. There right before the half we go in up 12-7. They kicked the ball off to us and the first play from scrimmage after the half we go down and score. I felt like it should’ve been that easy all night long. But we struggled here and there with just mental errors and the looks they were giving us. My hats off to DeQueen. They played extremely hard tonight (Friday). I think they played harder than we did for three quarters.”
DeQueen would get back into the game when it came up with a pick-6 with 4:46 left in the third. DeQueen added the PAT to cut the Cardinal lead to six.
Thompson returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown but it was called back to the CF 10 yard line because of a penalty. After the Cardinals had to punt, DeQueen drove the ball back down the field. Thanks to a big time 30 plus yard catch by Marquez Ester at the CF one yard line on a third down, DQ would score when Kade Marting pounded it in and retook the lead after the PAT to go ahead 21-20 with 11:56 remaining in the ball game.
That’s when things clicked for the Cardinals. Jared Lockhart returned the kickoff 26 yards to give the Cardinals solid field position near its 40 yard line. The Cardinals running game with Rucks and Hall got the team down the field. Facing a third down, CF brought in its heavy package and direct snapped it to linebacker Tyree Holliman who took the ball left of center and ran it in for a 17 yard touchdown. The two-point conversion failed but CF held to a 26-21 lead.
The defense would come up big when Demetrius “DX” Moore stripped a DeQueen running back on a third down and P.J. Davis recovered it at the CF 27. Three plays later Rucks found the end zone on a 7-yard touchdown. Holliman came in to run in the two-point conversion to give CF the 34-21 lead at the 7:34 mark of the game.
CF’s Davis then executed a well timed onside kick that was recovered by Justin Cowell at the 45-yard line. Three plays later Hall would run for a 25 yard touchdown. Holliman came in to add the two point conversion again and CF led, 42-21.
DeQueen scored again with about 3 minutes left to make it a 42-28 game. The Leopards tried an onside kick ,but it was recovered by Jalen Moore. The Cardinals would again strike fast when Hall would run in a 43 yard touchdown with 2:25 left in the contest. Shane Collins came in to kick the PAT to make it 49-28 and that would be the final margin.
“Defensively, I thought we were really good outside of a quarter tonight,” Monden said. “You take away two plays and they don’t score. With it being homecoming, I thought our mental edge wasn’t there... I thought we were a lot better in the fourth quarter there whenever we started just running the ball... I thought the O-Line wasn’t really bad all night long. We had a couple of protection issues early in the game and got Keith hit a little bit, but as far as that goes I thought the power run game was really good tonight. We’ve gotta be able to have that safety blanket to be able to do that. It’s always a good thing to have but we’re trying to open the offense up and be more wide open. And it just wasn’t a good night for us as far as timing and being there mentally the way we needed to be there”
When asked how ready he was ready to get back to a regular week of preparation, Monden responded “You have no idea.”
“Kids are creatures of habit and we all are as human beings,” Monden shared. “We have a process we go through weekly and when we have something go on like homecoming or a long trip or just something different in our routine throughout the week, most of the time these kids being the mature group I have, they tend to do pretty well. Today those kids were on their feet and their minds elsewhere. It’s just something we had to deal with and I’m glad we overcame it. Fortunate to go out there and win and got our 13 tie breaker points too.”
Monden also spoke about his team’s execution on PAT’s.
“We’re doing one thing where we spread the field in a different formation,” Monden said. “Jaden Bates came down with a nice one early on in the game. We found out pretty quickly when we ran our heavy package out there that they (DeQueen) didn’t have the numbers over there and we knew we had that for the rest of the half. And you know, as soon as we can get Tyree a drink of water he’s ready to go and waiting on us to do it. I thought he did a great job of just putting his foot in the ground and just getting vertical and running it and not being denied.”
“I thought it was just awesome how our administration and our support staff here and all the people that helped with homecoming from the ROTC to the band, the dance team, the cheer team... They just really did a tremendous job this week in making this special for these seniors. This is a homecoming they will remember for the rest of their lives. I’m glad to say I’m a part of it.”