CAMDEN — By PATRIC FLANNIGAN and WADE TOTTY
Sports editor
The Camden Fairview Cardinals had a breakout game on Friday night when it defeated the Hamburg Lions 51-35 at Cardinal Stadium.
Exploding for 543 yards on offense - 385 rushing yards on 46 attempts (8.4 yard average) - was a far cry from CF’s performance in Week 1 against El Dorado.
Things couldn’t have started much better for the home team as they were able to go on a 4 play, 80-yard drive that was punctuated by a punishing two yard touchdown run by Patrick Rucks. Sophomore quarterback Logan Robertson hit a big 53 yard completion to Javien Clemmer on the third play from scrimmage The ensuing PAT was no good. The Cardinal defense would for a three and out before the Cardinals turned the ball over near mid field on an interceptions. hamburg would take advantage and find D.J. Johnson on a screen pass on third down to score from 55 yards out. The Lions took the lead with the PAT being successful.
The Cardinals would answer on their next offensive possession with a 9 play, 83-yard drive finished by Erik Hall who ran the ball in for a four-yard touchdown. The two point conversion failed leaving the score at 12-7 with 2 minutes left in the first.
Both teams would turn the ball over on downs on their next offensive possessions. The Cardinals were hit with a controversial pass interference on a third and long that aided the Hamburg Lions. However, the victim of the questionable call Peyton Byrd was able to exact revenge by picking off the next play and returning it for a 52 yard touchdown. William Boniello would kick the PAT through the uprights to give the Cardinals a 19-7 lead.
Hamburg would respond quickly when the very next play from scrimmage, Johnson would find a seem on his right and race for a 65 yard touchdown. The PAT was good and the two teams would exchange possession over the next seven minutes as the Cardinals went into the half with the 19-14 lead.
The Lions received the ball to start the second half but the Cardinal defense would force a three and out. After a 12 yard punt return by Dashaire Ford Burton, the Cardinals offense would take over at its own 38. On the fifth play of the drive, Rucks got the hand off and moved a pile of Hamburg defenders from the Lion’s 25 yard line to the 2 yard line. Hall would score on the next play and Boniello would nail the field goal to put CF ahead, 26-14.
C.F.’s P.J. Davis’ sky-high kick-offs plagued the Lions through out the second half as teammate Justin Scott was able to recover the bobbled Hamburg return at the Lions 35 yard line.
Erick Gates came in to operate at quarterback and ran the read option with precision to get the Cardinals down to the 11 yard line. The Lions called a timeout allowing for Robertson to come back into the game and find Ford-Burton on a slant route for a touchdown. The PAT was no good but CF held a 32-14 lead with 5:30 left in the third.
Davis would again channel his kicking wizardry to make a Hamburg up back bobble the return. This time Rucks would recover the ball for the Cardinals. Just a few plays later, Gates would score on a read option from six yards out and Boniello would nail the PAT to make the new score, CF 39, Hamburg 14.
The Lions wisely put their best play maker in for the next Cardinal kick off and it paid off as Johnson found room on his right for a 70 plus yard kick off return touchdown.
The Cardinals and Lions would both stall on offense. hamburg had the ball at their own 44 yard line when Cardinal safety Tyree Tatum intercepted a pass.
Reserves would play well for the Cardinals after that point with Kevin Tate running in a 16 yard touchdown and Reshard Clardy scoring on a 10 yard run.
CF Head Coach Jack Monden said after the game that he felt like his team would play well after what they showed him practice leading up to the game.
“I thought we had a decent week of practice,” Monden shared. “Especially when you see some things on film from last week and it’s ‘man if we did this right or just did this or made this decision we’re talking about a different ball game.’ I thought offensively we had a good mental week. At this point in time it’s not about the physical side of things as much because it is a long season but it’s the mental things. Hamburg was 2-0 and anytime you play Hamburg those kids play hard and (Hamburg Head Football) Coach (Cecil Ray) Cossy there’s something in the water over there. They just really play hard and they don’t give up and they’re always a very classy opponent.”
The Cardinals did a great job of staying composed when the calls didn’t go its way. The game has been an emotional one going back to 2015 when former Hamburg Coach Mike Cox became the head coach at C.F. At one point during Friday’s game, an official went down to fatigue hindering the officiating staff to operate at full capacity. The Cardinals did a good job of walking away during tense plays and finished the game without a single personal foul call compared to three by the Lions.
“It goes back to consistency and what we’re doing and preaching,” Monden explained. “I don’t think any team in America is good enough to go out there and have a ton of penalties and act like idiots and be able to play out of it. So we have been concentrating on being disciplined. We jumped off sides there in the first half and it was just little things here and there that I know we can clean up. Schematic things we want have to worry about if we can handle the discipline things.”
The offensive line was also dominating for the Cardinals. If 385 rushing yards isn’t enough evidence, Robertson wasn’t sacked a single time and had a lot of time to show off his arm strength.
“Offensive Line Coach (Justin) Carpenter and Coach (Nick) Evans are doing a really good job with rotations during the week in practice,” Monden shared. “They do a good job of getting the guys ready at different spots and just being able to puzzle piece the O line to our strength. Jahleel Welch played guard and tackle, you got a guy like (Ryan) Shatley played center and guard, Jackson Burdue was at center and guard and Sherodrick Morris played at guard and tackle. We got a lot of guys we are moving around out there. I thought Aiden Cripps was a lot better offensively too. We were able to put him out there a lot more and that allows for Patrick Rucks to go back there at tail back. Look at what Patrick did tonight. He had some tough runs there. I think he carried the whole Hamburg team 20 yards. Coach Evans hollered at me and said ‘why did you take him out?’ I said ‘dude, he just carried about 70 people for 20 yards.’ The whole thing is about being selfless Erik doesn’t care if he scores, Patrick doesn’t care if he scores, our receivers are very selfless. They just want to win, man. Everybody is about ‘we’ and not about ‘me’.”
Austin Stone had a big game on defense as he was wearing the No. 12 to honor Tyler Kelley. Stone was one of Kelley’s best friends.
“One of our guys that’s kinda one of our heart beats out there, Jacobie Williams - and he’s come such a long way - we’re in pre-game out there and he says, ‘This games for Tyler’” Monden said. “I knew middle of the summer that I was gonna put that jersey on Austin Stone for this game. It was just amazing that Stone had such a good game and a great week of practice. A lot of things that’ll go unsaid in here that means so much to these kids. I don’t think Tyler’s jersey could’ve been on a better kid tonight. I’m so proud of the way he’s played. Just mentally and physically. He’s not just playing for his self.”
Hall finished the game with 18 carries for 147 and two touchdowns, Robertson rushed 7 times for 60 yards. Jacoriae Brown rushed twice for 45 yards and Patrick Rucks had 3 rushes for 39. Tate added 30 yards on six attempts and Clardy was the go-to running back in the red zone with 6 carries for 22 yards and a touchdown.
Robertson finished 10/21 for 158 yards but could have possible finished 15/21 as there were 5 drops by Cardinal receivers after getting behind the Lion’s defense. Javien Clemmer and Troy Butler combined for 105 yards on two receptions. Ford-Burton had 25 yards on six receptions and a touchdown. Senior Garrett Griffin had a big first down reception for 22 yards in the second half and Junior Jaden Bates had 16 yards on a single reception.
Amari Pace had a very big game on defense finishing with 8 tackles - two for losses. Kyron Kidd, Jacobie Williams and Matthew Pouncil did a good job along the line. Sophomore JaToney McGhee also had a big game on defense.
Harmony Grove loses at home to Fordyce
CAMDEN—-The Harmony Grove Hornets saw their quest for a perfect regular season record come to a screeching halt before a near capacity crowd at Bill Manning Field on Friday night. The Fordyce Redbugs jumped out to a 26-0 lead and then cruised to a 46-22 non-conference victory.
Coach Tim Rodgers’ Redbugs received the opening kick and marched 57 yards for their first score, a 20 yard run by Quartey Shelton with 8:00 to go in the first period. Shelton also scored the 2 point play giving Fordyce an 8-0 lead.
The Redbugs successfully covered an onsides kick and then put together a 45 yard drive capped by a 1 yard run by QB Jaheim Brown. They failed to convert the 2 point try, leaving the score 14-0.
Fordyce used a fake punt on their next scoring drive to keep the series alive. RB Gary Lewis scored on a 5 yard run with :34 left in the first quarter. The 2 point conversion failed. The score was 20-0 Fordyce at the end of the quarter.
Harmony Grove was not able to gain possession of the ball on the ensuing onsides kick. Fordyce mounted a 47 yard drive capped by a 35 yard pass from Brown to WR Ja’quez Cross. Once again the 2 point try was unsuccessful bringing the score to 26-0 with 9:41 to go in the first half.
Coach Ernie Horstcamp’s Hornets put together a 65 yard scoring drive that was topped off with a 3 yard run from Xaylon Falls with 6:14 to go in the second quarter. The 2 point try failed. The score set at 26-6.
Fordyce responded with yet another scoring drive starting at their own 33 yard line. Brown would run it in from 1 yard out with :46 to go in the half pushing the lead to 32-6. The 2 point conversion failed.
Damion Daniel had a long kick-off return for the Hornets, but they fumbled the ball back to Fordyce just before halftime.
The third period saw no scoring from either team. The home squad fumbled the ball to the Redbugs on their first play from scrimmage. Then both teams exchanged punts with Harmony Grove taking possession just before the end of the period.
The final period began with the Hornets scoring a touchdown on a 38 yard pass from QB Zach Smith to Daniels. Falls scores the extra 2 bringing the score to 32-14.
Fordyce scored again on a 1 yard run by Lewis with 7:46 to play in the contest. The 2 point play failed. The score stood at 38-14.
Smith scored on a 7 yard run for the Hornets at the 6:24 mark. Mecca Arnold scored the extra 2 points pulling Harmony Grove to within 38-22.
Fordyce had an answer. With 3:45 left in the game Shelton ran for 46 yards and the score. Trey Merrit scored the extra 2 setting the final score of 46-22.
After the game, Coach Horstcamp said, “They lined up and took it to us in the first half.”
Harmony Grove has a bye next week. They will face Bismarck on the road on Friday, September 27 at 7:00PM.
With the loss, the Hornets are 2-1 on the season. Fordyce improves to 2-0.
Bearden loses to Hazen
When Bearden Head Coach Greg Anthony took over the Bear’s program he knew it was going to take time to rebuild. While a 61-12 loss to a Hazen team loaded with college recruits can be demoralizing, Anthony isn’t throwing in the towel yet.
The Bears entered the game down two starters and were forced to use a sophomore at quarterback that has never played the position before. He also had to move up a couple of freshman to play on the varsity team. Still, his team went out and competed.
“You know, it was a couple of times when I looked out on the field and there weren’t anything but freshman and sophomores,” Anthony said. “That means it’s going to be hard. It says a lot though that a lot of the kids that are playing are talking to the others and talking about how this program has gotten back to playing football. There’s been a couple of kids that have told me they regret they didn’t play this year, so hopefully that means our numbers will go back up.”
Anthony said that other teams know the Bears are low in numbers and are entering the game with twice as many players. Instead of showing “class” when their teams have big leads, they have chosen to “run the score up.”
The Bears loss another player to a scary neck injury during the game against Hazen. However, the student athlete was released later that night.
“We still have big games left,” Anthony said. “It’s not just about playing football, you want to keep the players safe too.”
Anthony recognized Jalen Cones and Dominic Hammonds who both came in and led the Bears on scoring drives at quarterback.