CAMERON - In search of program-changing victory, Coach Jim Rogers and Cameron were done in Friday night by a combination of tough field conditions and self-inflicted wounds. The Dragons' spread offense was grounded to the tune of 223 yards as Clay-Battelle (6-1) escaped Dragon Field with a 6-0 victory.
It's a crushing blow to Cameron's Class A playoff hopes. The Dragons entered the game 17th in the WVSSAC ratings, and stood to gain a tremendous amount of points with a victory.
''This was the one. It's going to sting for a long time,'' Rogers said. ''It's going to be tough. This one we should have had.
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Cameron quarterback Ryan Hughes (8) is swarmed under by Clay-Battelle’s Rezin Spears (on ground) as the Dragons’ Harley Hubbs (68) looks on.
''But we didn't and it's over with.''
It was a one step forward, two steps back kinda night for Cameron (4-4), which finishes the regular season with games against Paden City and Bridgeport.
You get the point.
''We get a drive going, we fumble the ball. We get a drive going, we fumble the ball,'' Rogers lamented. ''Geez, we just shot ourselves in the foot. They're no better than us as far as I am concerned.
''You can't blame kids. I'm not going to point a finger at anybody. They played as hard as they could on both sides of the ball.''
Especially on defense where they limited Clay-Battelle to 243 yards, with 126 of those coming on two plays. Defensive coordinator Aaron Poling's bunch swarmed to the football, allowing only a 1-yard Derek Hinkle touchdown run at 11:17 of the second quarter.
And even then, it took Clay-Battelle three plays to get in from the 6.
Cee-Bees coach Ryan Wilson was happy to get out of town with a victory.
''It's Single-A football and it's always a war between us.,'' he said. ''The muddy conditions sort of limits you in what you can do, (but) both teams played great.
''The six points - I kept sweating it the whole time because I thought it would come back to haunt us because their kicker is fantastic. ''
That never played a part, however, as the Dragons got no closer than the Clay-Battelle 47-yard line in the second half.
''I'm going to tell you one thing - we played a helluva defense. We asked our defense over and over and over again, and they responded every time - with an interception, with a strip,'' Roger said. ''Aaron's done a great job with that defense. Offensive-wise we just kept going three-and-out. We relied on our defense all the time.
''But when you don't score you don't win. That's the bottom line.''
Freshman Jacoby Steele was a workhorse for Clay-Battelle, carrying 20 times for 160 yards. Warsinsky paced the Dragons on the ground with 38 yards on 15 carries, while QB Ryan Hughes threw for 117 yards, 42 of those going to Mark Walker on three catches.
