By Ryan Jones

sports@vindy.com

CAMPBELL

Campbell Memorial stoked its own fire before an important non-conference contest with Liberty.

Coach Mickey Sikora said the locker room was an emotional rollercoaster as the Red Devils dedicated the game to senior Skevo Zambellis, one their leading receivers from last year who suffered a season-ending injury last week against South Range.

So when Campbell trailed 14-6 midway through the third quarter before rallying to a 15-14 triumph, Sikora wasn’t too surprised.

“With this group, it’s never really about what the coaches say,” he said. “These kids play with a lot of heart and they believe in what we are doing. They believe they can make a play even when they are down.”

The Red Devils (3-0) cut the lead to 14-12 when quarterback Lester Hughes sprinted right, then doubled back to the left before connecting with Richard Bledsoe on a 15-yard TD pass.

“Sometimes we don’t know what Lester is doing with his legs or arms,” Sikora said. “But then when he makes plays like that you’re more than happy to live with it.”

Two possessions later, Campbell’s Claxton LeBron recovered a Liberty fumble at the 33-yard line. On the next play, Hughes connected with receiver Anthony Rushton on a 25-yard catch-and-run down to the 10.

After two incomplete passes and a stuffed running attempt, Alex Sudakov nailed a 27-yard field goal to give the Red Devils a 15-14 lead with 9:44 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The one-point lead was enough for Campbell’s physical defense. The Red Devils forced the Leopards to punt on their last two possessions before running out the clock.

Liberty coach Jeff Whittaker said his team was feeling a lot of pain after the loss.

“I was proud of our physical courage,” he said. “We fought so hard and we are disappointed to come up on point short. This was a physical, defensive-minded high school football game. Turnovers played a role for both teams and most of those came from really physical play.”

Liberty (1-2) trailed 6-0 at halftime, but scored the first 14 points of the second half after forcing two Campbell fumbles. Charles Perdue, who led all rushers with 24 carries and 204 yards, scored from 7 and 55 yards following the Red Devil’s miscues.

“I thought out defensive line and linebackers played great games,” Sikora said. “We had to make sure we where in the right spots against a back like Perdue. He found a seam on that long touchdown.”

Lester, who went 9-of-19 for 184 yards, lofted his first touchdown pass to Rushton from 44 yards out to give Campbell a 6-0 lead in the first quarter.

Rushton led all receivers with three catches for 97 yards, teammate Ja’les Hughes ran 21 times for 76 yards and Bledsoe hauled in three passes for 45 yards.