Campbell eliminated by Manchester

By john bassetti

bassetti@vindy.com

RAVENNA

Manchester took a 13-7 lead in the second quarter and didn’t let up in beating Campbell Memorial, 52-21, in a Division IV, Region 13 semifinal on Friday night.

“We took advantage of almost every one of their mistakes and made some advantages ourselves,” Manchester coach Jim France said of two fumbles and two interceptions — all of which led to touchdowns for the Panthers (12-0).

“We had a couple letdowns, like the onside kick, but we seemed to be playing real well. We knew we had to control them and they could score real quick in a lot of way.

“We knew they were a lot bigger than we were and stronger than us and we tried to run the ball, we started in our passing offense tonight because we thought we might as well go right to it and we pretty much did the first half. But we figured we’d have to pass on them because of their tough defense.”

Manchester did pass: 16 of 35 for 209 yards. All but one was by Nick Peyakov, while Tyler Masters’ only pass was for a 19-yard touchdown on a flanker option.

“We’re up 7-0, then we had a touchdown called back and that didn’t help because we could have gone up, 14-0, so that hurt us,” Campbell coach Mickey Sikora said. “But give Manchester credit, they’re undefeated for a reason. You can’t make mistakes against a good football team and expect to come out on top.”

Sikora acknowledged that Manchester beat his team on a couple long pass plays. “We could have been in better position.”

Ja’Les Hughes of Campbell was the game’s top ground gainer with 220 yards on 31 carries.

Campbell scored first on a 71-yard run up the middle by Ja’Les Hughes. The Red Devils were successful on the ensuing onside kick when Charles Smith recovered.

However, Campbell’s first play involved an offensive pass interference penalty and the Red Devils started their offensive series on their own 37-yard line. The drive went nowhere and Campbell punted.

The Panthers took advantage of the good field position and, after an incomplete pass, Peyakov threw to Cort Logan, who collected the pass at Campbell’s 20, then ran the rest of the way into the end zone.

Manchester took advantage of a turnover to set up its go-ahead tally.

Lester Hughes’ pass to Richard Bledsoe was completed, but the ball squirted away from Bledsoe as he struggle to get through a trio of tacklers. Mark Noble recovered at Campbell’s 45 and, nine plays later, Kyle Dougherty caught a 19-yard pass from Tyler Masters, who had the ball flipped to him by Peyakov.

Campbell’s next possession fizzled after which the Panthers took control and marched 58 yards, capped by Logan’s 21-yard TD run. The failed conversion pass left Manchester in the lead, 19-7, with 2:55 left in the first half.

Campbell fell behind even more early in the third quarter after Ja’Les Hughes fumbled and Masters recovered at Campbell’s 40. On the first play, Peyakov hit Logan from that distance and the Panthers were ahead, 25-7, with 9:46 remaining in the third.

Claxton Lebron returned a kickoff 90 yards for Campbell’s final touchdown.