LaBrae vs Campbell

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LaBrae vs Campbell

Team

Campbell Memorial

Record	Div.	Conf.
3/7	Div. V	All-American Conference Blue Tier

Team

LaBrae

Record	Div.	Conf.
3/5	Div. V	All-American Conference Blue Tier

By Jon Moffett

jmoffett@vindy.com

CAMPBELL

Ja’les Hughes stood outside of the home locker room of John Knapick Field at Campbell High with his mohawk neatly trimmed and grinning from ear to ear.

Despite having rushed for more than 200 yards, he showed no signs of fatigue or exhaustion. Instead, he was focusing on how good he felt.

“We haven’t started off at 5-0 in forever,” he said. “Even when I used to watch [as a kid] they never started off 5-0.”

Well, the Red Devils are just that; undefeated through the first half of their promising season.

The latest victory was a 27-0 win over LaBrae. First-year head coach Mickey Sikora said it was the most complete game his team has played this year.

“We’ve been waiting for a game like that, and our kids really came to play tonight,” Sikora said. “We knew that LaBrae was going to be a physical football team, and we just wanted to focus and gear in on what we needed to do offensively and defensively. And we came to play tonight.”

Hughes also came to play.

The junior running back had 212 yards on 22 carries. He had touchdown runs of 2 and 5 yards, and seemed to never go down after the first Viking hit.

Like any good runner, Hughes quickly deflected all of the attention from him and to his offensive line.

“It was all about the O-line,” Hughes said. “They told me they had my back tonight, and they did.”

The Vikings (2-3) tried to answer the Devils’ running attack with a ground game of their own. Junior tailback Matt Szorady had 58 yards on 15 carries. But the Red Devils were able to keep the Vikings out of the end zone and hold the passing game in check.

It’s unclear which was more of a detriment to the Vikings, the Red Devil defense, or the swirling winds at field level. Either way, senior quarterback Andrew Sekela had little success. Sekela went 1-for-8 for only 5 yards and he was intercepted once.

Sikora said he was very impressed with his defense, especially given the blustery conditions.

LaBrae coach Bill Bohren said the game plan was to do exactly what the Red Devils did: Pound the ball and milk the clock.

“We wanted to control the ball and eat the clock, and obviously we didn’t do that tonight,” he said. “But Hughes is tough to handle, and so is his brother.”

The other Hughes Bohren was referring to was senior quarterback Lester, who had a good night passing. He completed 10 of 18 for 107 yards.

Bohren said it’s too early in the season for his team to be discouraged. A vital game against Struthers looms on the horizon.

“Each game is a new day, and we just need to get better each week,” he said.

The Red Devils have their heads held high, but Sikora is doing his best to make sure they keep their heads out of the clouds.

Perhaps their biggest test come next week with a road trip to play Salem.

“That’s a big game for us. They have a great quarterback down there, and it is going to be a big challenge for us,” he said.

The Quakers (4-1) are led by senior quarterback Trent Toothman. Sikora said next week’s game will be a good test of where his team stands, and where it can end up later this year.

Hughes said he is ready for the big showdown, and thinks his team can come out on top.

In fact, Hughes said he thinks his team can not only beat the Quakers, but also every other team on the remaining schedule.

“It feels good to be 5-0,” he said. “But we are trying to get to 10-0.”

He added, “There ain’t no limits for us. We’re trying to go all the way.”