Valley Christian vs Campbell

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By Brian Dzenis

bdzenis@vindy.com

CAMPBELL

Campbell had already given up one big play in the fourth quarter, but the Red Devils weren’t about to give up two.

Red Devils defensive back Gerald Brown batted down Milan Square’s heave to the end zone in the game’s final seconds as Campbell fended off Valley Christian for a 13-7 victory.

Antwaan McMeans’ 7-yard touchdown run put Campbell up 13-0 with six minutes left to play and at the rate Valley Christian’s offense was going, that lead seemed insurmountable.

Photo Gallery: Valley Christian vs Campbell

But then the Eagles offense got rolling and marched down the field and Square found Jamnyk Jackson from 35 yards out to make it a one-score game. Valley Christian’s defense then forced Campbell to turn the ball over on downs with 44 seconds left to play.

Starting at the Eagles’ 26, Square connected with Jackson twice on two long throws to put the Eagles at Campbell’s 20. His first attempt for the end zone sailed out of bounds long and Brown knocked down the second attempt.

“I had a pretty bad play where I let the corner pass go [for a touchdown],” Brown said. “We just played 10 yards back and we just couldn’t let them catch the ball. We needed this win for Campbell.”

The game plan for Campbell was simple: run the football, run the clock and play good defense. The Red Devils utilized a three-pronged ground attack of quarterback Darion Jones (50 yards) and running backs McMeans (37 yards) and Brandon Liggins (66 yards). It’s a departure from last year, where Yianni Koullias was the lead guy.

“I try to move the ball around a bit. Our problem is right now we have so many guys going both ways,” Campbell coach Ed Rozum said. “We have some young guys who are almost ready to give these guys some breaks.”

Campbell’s first touchdown came at the end of a 79-yard drive that took roughly 11 minutes to complete across the first and second quarters.

Jones made two critical short-yard gains. The first came on a fourth-and-1 at Valley Christian’s 13 early in the second quarter. The other came when he scored on a 1-yard run.

“We just have a great line,” Jones said. “We’re huge and we’ve been lifting the whole offseason and we know we can trust them.”

That drive also featured a rare forward pass, a 14-yard lob to Malachai Barnarn. That was one of three passes Jones completed Friday night for a combined 29 yards.

Square was the only player to reach triple digits in offensive yardage with 105 passing yards.

“It took a little too long to get going, but when we did, we we’re making some big ‘ol plays,” Valley Christian co-head coach Jeff Hether said. “That’s what I wanted to see from the start, but this is game one. We have to get some kinks off our offense and what I do like about this team is that they keep fighting and fighting to the end.

“It came down to the last pass.”

The game was the debut for the head-coaching tandem of Hether and Jomont Ware at Valley Christian. They were assistants under predecessor Albert Jennings, who ran the team last year.

“I actually think they did awesome here tonight,” Hether said. “I kind of want to see this the next game and I finally want to see my offense get going in the first or second quarter instead of the fourth quarter.”