CAMERON – Just four weeks after escaping Morgantown with a hard-fought, one-score victory over Trinity, unbeaten Cameron returned home for the rematch and sent a strong, and quick message to both the Warriors and the rest of the West Virginia Class A field in a game that was halted with 3:47 to play in the third quarter with Trinity walking off the field.
Senior Isaac Ball continued his outstanding season with 140 yards on 15 carries, as well as a 70-yard punt return for a score, while sophomore quarterback Colson Wichterman fired a pair of first quarter touchdowns as Cameron finished off a perfect 9-0 regular season with a convincing, and shortened 30-0 victory over the Warriors at Dragon Stadium.
Coach Tim Brown’s Dragons entered the week ranked No. 2 in the latest small-school rankings while Coach Christopher Simpson’s Trinity club, which dropped to 6-2 and will play Madonna next week, was sitting at No. 10.
“Our kids have come such a long way this season and they have done things the right way,” Brown said. “We actually had the same group of officials in our first scrimmage that we had (Friday) and they couldn’t believe how far we have come.
“As far as what happened at the end of the game, I honestly could not believe their reaction and I have never seen a team just walk off the field like that before. It is shocking to me. We go out of our way to promote good sportsmanship and do things the right way and then the kids have to be a part of something like that.”
Simpson’s explanation of what happened, and his reasoning for stopping the game also did not sit well with Brown.
“There were several racial slurs, and I was just unsatisfied and unpleased with how they (Cameron) were handling things on the field,” Simpson said. “I was just not going to leave my kids on the field in what I felt was a dangerous situation. I felt like the officials, their athletic director and coaches were losing control of the situation.
“At some point, as a coach, you just have to do what you have to do.”
Brown’s response to Simpson’s remarks were both short and to the point.
“None of that happened,” Brown said. “Our kids would not, and did not, say or do those things. That is complete fabrication.”
As for the game, Wichterman and Ball wasted little time taking over and the Dragons were well on their way after the initial 12 minutes of play. In the first quarter alone Wichterman threw for 77 yards and a pair of scores while Ball rushed for 84 yards on just seven tries.
Cameron got the scoring going with Wichterman hitting junior Cole Burkett down the sideline from 17 yards out to cap an 11-play, 74-yard march at 8:06 of the opening frame. Wichterman’s pass to Landen Tustin made it an 8-0 score with the deuce.
After the Warriors rattled off nine plays before punting the Dragons were in business again with a pair of big plays extending the margin. On first-and-10 from the 23 Ball ripped off a 41-yard run just one play before Wichterman’s long pass to junior Payton Neely was hauled in on a juggling catch from 36 yards out with 51 seconds showing. Wichterman added the bonus run and it was 16-0.
Ball once again spearheaded another scoring drive midway through the second quarter, before leaving on the final play of the drive with a minor injury. The senior dandy had three carries on the march for 34 yards with Neely capping things off with a 12-yard burst at the five-minute mark. The pass for two failed and the score increased to 22-0.
Trinity’s best scoring opportunity of the half came late, moving all the way to the Cameron 12 before eventually having a 39-yard Kyle Knight field goal attempt blocked with just two seconds showing.
The Dragons put things out of reach with 3:47 to play in the third when Ball hauled in a punt at his own 30, headed up the middle and broke to the sideline, breaking through a tackle inside the 10 before finishing off the 70-yard return. Gunnar Bryan converted the two-point run to make it 30-0 in what turned out to be the final play of the night.
“We talked about playing our physical brand of football right from start,” Brown added. “We wanted to play hard, with class and sportsmanship and that is exactly what we did, and I am proud of the kids. Our kids are in good shape and are well-coached. The technique is to come at you to bring you down and to be where we need to be and we were ready and did that.
“I felt like we did a great job with the game-plans on both sides of the football. We just want to continue to get better from here.”
The hard-hitting Cameron defense limited Trinity to just 72 total yards and five first downs in the game.
Trinity 0 0 0 — 0
Cameron 16 6 8 — 30
C-Burkett 17 pass from Wichterman (Tustin pass from Wichterman), 8:06
C-Neely 36 pass from Wichterman (Wichterman run), :51
C-Neely 12 run (pass failed), 5:00
C-Ball 70 punt return (Bryan run), 3:47
Rushing: Trinity 20-39 (Teets 7-19; Hill 11-22; Finn 1-(-2); Knight 1-0). Cameron 20-184-td (Ball 15-140; Wichterman 3-29; Neely 1-12-td; Team 1-3).
Passing: Trinity 11-16-33 (all by Hill). Cameron 7-15-83-2 (all by Wichterman).
Receiving: Trinity 11-33-0 (Kniska 7-24; Knight 2-10; Summers 1-3; Teets 1-(-4)). Cameron 7-83-2 (Burkett 4-34-td; Neely 2-48-td; Ball 1-1).
First Downs: Trinity 5; Cameron 15.
Penalties: Trinity 5-56; Cameron 10-94.
Fumbles: Trinity 0-0; Cameron 3-1.
By TRACY WATSON
For The Intelligencer
