×
X logo

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox.

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)

You may opt-out anytime by clicking "unsubscribe" from the newsletter or from your account.

Cameron Dragons Are in Playoffs

Cameron beats Van for first postseason berth in 13 seasons

Cameron’s Andrew Simms (10) closes in on Van’s Brady Grant on Friday at Dragon Stadium in Cameron. Photo by Scott McCloskey

CAMERON — One of the most emotional days in Scott Holt’s life ended in joyous celebration. Less than 12 hours after he laid his best friend Jamey Conlin to rest, Holt pushed his Cameron football team back into the West Virginia Class A playoffs for the first time in 13 years.

Michael Starcher rushed for 129 yards and a touchdown while intercepting a pass and recovering a fumble on defense, and quarterback Colby Brown scored three times on the ground as the Dragons (8-0) held on to beat Van (6-2), 28-26, on Friday night at Dragon Stadium.

”When things get tough on and off the field, you count on your family. These kids are my family and I just told them that,” Holt said.

”I can’t tell you what this means.”

Playing in terrible conditions, Bulldogs running back Brady Grant would not be denied. The Dragons got plenty of hands on him during the first three quarters, but he slipped out of one tackle after another.

But when the chips were down, Cameron had Grant’s number, even if the mud on his jersey made it impossible to read.

Trailing 28-26, Van turned Cameron over on downs inside the red zone. Taking over at their 19 with 3:10 remaining and two timeouts left, the Bulldogs did the same thing they did all night and handed it off to Grant four straight times.

But Logan Ritchea dropped the junior on first down for no gain. Wyatt Wingrove caught him in the backfield for a loss of 1 yard and Starcher dragged Grant down for a gain of 3 on third down, when it appeared he was headed for daylight. Finally, on fourth-and-3 with less than a minute remaining, Travis Mickey came up from his cornerback spot and went low on Grant to tackle him for no gain.

”I’ve told people a lot this year that the game seems to come to us and we get better as it goes on,” Holt said. ”Grant is a very good running back, but in the end we did what we had to do.

”Michael Starcher, he literally puts us on his back. And he had a lot of their guys on his back, too.”

It was a big moment for Starcher, who has been a starter for four years and until now had not sniffed the playoffs.

”I think we just wanted it more,” the senior said. ”Our class went undefeated in eighth grade, so to go through what we have and to make the playoffs feels great.”

Van had all the momentum early, scoring the game’s first two touchdowns on runs of 1 and 81 yards by Grant, who finished with 36 carries, 266 yards and four scores. He also had a 57-yarder called back on a rare — it was called twice Friday — failure to wear proper equipment penalty.

Trailing 14-0 with 9:26 left in the half, the Dragons finally got going.

A shotgun snap went over Brown’s head, but he alertly gathered it and bulled his way for a first down on a fourth-and-3. On the next play, Starcher burst through the line, spun out of a tackle and raced 17 yards into the end zone to cut it to 14-6.

”There was no cutting out there,” Starcher said. ”It was straight ahead”

That began a three-touchdown outburst in a span of 3 minutes and 13 seconds for the Dragons.

The Bulldogs fumbled their next offensive snap and it took Cameron four plays to score. Brown hit Trey Scott and Andrew Simms on consecutive passes of 11 and 13 yards, respectively, and two plays later he called his own number from the 3. Brown carried in for a 2-point conversion to knot things at 14-14.

But Van continued to be in the giving mood — it turned it over four times overall — and coughed up the football on the next play, with Wingrove, a junior, recovering at the Bulldogs 38.

It looked like the Dragons had been stopped on third down, but a personal foul kept the drive alive. Three plays later Brown went in from the 3 again for a 22-14 lead.

Grant cashed in from the 29 with 3:03 remaining in the half and the teams went to the locker room with Cameron ahead, 22-20.

Holt’s club marched down the field on it first drive of the second half as Starcher ripped off gains of 13, 17 and 10 yards, before Brown scored for the third time — all from 3 yards out — to push the margin to 28-20.

Van responded with Grant’s fourth and final score, this one coming from 9 yards. That was the final time either team put a point on the scoreboard. Cameron’s defense, which received a standout performance from sophomore Aidan Lucey, took it up a notch physically.

”We played three guys up front (on defense) most of the night against seven and sometimes eight linemen,” Holt said. ”We adjusted to what was giving us problems in the first half and began slanting Aidan.

”He did a great job at finding the gaps and shooting into the backfield.”

Cameron 28, Van 26

Van    6  14  6  0 — 26

Cameron    0  22  6  0 — 28

V — Grant 1 run (run failed), 8:27

V — Grant 81 run (Price run), 9:26

C — Starcher 17 run (pass failed), 7:25

C — Brown 3 run (Brown run), 6:19

C — Brown 3 run (Starcher pass from Brown), 4:12

V — Grant 29 run (pass failed), 3:03

C — Brown 3 run (run failed), 9:09

V — Grant 9 run (run failed), 5:20

Rushing: Van 45-311-4td (Grant 36-266-4td, Price 5-39, Smith 2-6, Green 2-2). Cameron 47-176-4td (Starcher 27-129-td, Brown 13-36-3td, Simms 4-14, Team 3-(-3).

Passing: Van 4-6-10-x (Green 3-5-0-x, Gibson 1-1-10). Cameron 5-10-74 (all by Brown).

Receiving: Van 4-10 (Grant 2-(-7), Smith 1-10, Price 1-7). Cameron 5-74 (Scott 2-25, Milliken 1-27, Simms 1-13, Mickey 1-9).

First Downs: Van 16, Cameron 14.

Penalties: Van 8-55, Cameron 9-70.

Fumbles: Van 5-3, Cameron 4-0.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

COMMENTS

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today