NEW MATAMORAS — ­ It was the worst possible scenario at the worst possible time that turned into the worst possible outcome for the Frontier Cougars in Friday night’s battle with the visiting Cameron Dragons.

Trailing by just six points with the ball deep in Cameron territory with less than 20 seconds to play in the first half the Cougars fumbled the football and Dragon defender Adam Angel scooped it up and sprinted 68 yards into the end zone to pretty much demoralize a Cougar squad that had executed a ball-control game plan to perfection in the first two quarters of the game.

Cameron took the 14-point lead into the intermission and then added 14 points each in the final two quarters to down the Cougars 42-6 to improve to a perfect 3-0 on the season.

The Cougars came up with a huge defensive play on the Dragons opening possession when they recovered a fumble deep in Cougar territory to present ball to the offense at the 13-yard line.

After losing to Cameron on the road by 38-points last year it was quite obvious from their very first play that the Frontier game plan was to run the football and keep the Dragons dangerous offensive weapons off the field.

The Cougars did just that as they put together an impressive 21-play drive that moved the ball deep into Dragon territory while chewing up nearly one full quarter of game clock.

The first 20 plays of the drive were running plays and the Cougars first passing attempt on a fourth and five at the Cameron 25-yard line resulted in an incomplete pass that turned the ball over to the Dragons on downs.

It wouldnát take the Dragon offense long at all to show why the Cougars wanted to limit their possessions as they drove 75-yards in 10 plays with junior quarterback Colson Wichterman connecting with senior Cole Burkett on a 17-yard touchdown pass.

Frontierás second possession of the game mirrored their first as they ran eight straight times to move the ball to the Cameron 34-yard line when disaster struck.

Cougar junior Ethan Snyder carried the ball on a fourth and two and easily got the first down only to be stripped of the ball by a Cameron defender with Angel alertly picking it up and then out-racing everyone to the end zone to give Cameron a 14-0 lead at the break.

After the intermission the Cougars hoped to regain the momentum they lost late in the first half and they did just that when freshman Caleb Kirkpatrick returned the second half kickoff 30 yards into Cameron territory.

Frontier completed their first pass of the game when Lucas Cox connected with fellow senior Walker Hendershot on a 28-yard pass to move the ball inside the 30-yard line.

That drive would shortly come to an end when Payton Neely picked off a Cox pass intended for Hendershot just inside the goal line to give the ball back to the Dragons.

Cameron quickly marched the ball right down the field and they opened up a 22-0 lead when junior J. Ross scored on a five-yard touchdown jaunt.

After the Cougars went three-and-out on their next possession Cameron broke things wide open when Wichterman rambled 52-yards on a quarterback-keeper and Ross scored his second touchdown from 5-yards out to increase the lead to 28-0.

Wichterman connected with Mason Debolt on a six-yard scoring strike early in the fourth to set the running clock in motion before Cox returned the kickoff 60 yards to the one to set up his own touchdown to finally get the Cougars on the board.

Burkett returned the favor by returning the ensuing kickoff 81-yards for a touchdown to cap the scoring and give the Dragons their third win in as many decisions.

“I thought our kids played hard and gave everything they had,” said Cougar head coach Russ Morris, who saw a pair of key offensive performers in Brenden Buck and Blake Brooker leave the game injured in the first half. ”

Cameron has a good football team but I was very proud of how our guys battled.”

Wichterman completed 9-of-13 pass attempts for 150 yards in the game while rushing for a game-high 99 on just five totes.

Burkett hauled in six of those passes for 114 yards while Ross carried the ball 7 times for 40.

Frontier ran a total of 58 offensive plays compared to just 30 for the visitors but were still out-gained by a 314-209 margin.

Snyder led the Cougars in rushing with 49 yards on 13 carries while Cox ran the ball 19 times for 43 yards while completing 3-of-9 passes for an even 50.

Frontier slipped to 2-2 with the loss and will remain home next week when they welcome Valley Wetzel in their homecoming game.

Cameron 42, Frontier 6

Cam 0 14 14 14 — 42

Frontier 0 0 0 6 — 6

C — Burkett pass 17 from Wichterman (kick miss)

C — A. Angel 68 fumble recovery (Neely run)

C — Ross run 25 (K. Angel pass from Wichterman)

C — Ross run 4 (run failed)

C — Debolt pass 10 from Wichterman (Burkett run)

F — Cox run 1 (kick miss)

C — Burkett 81 kickoff return (kick miss)

RUSHING: Cameron 16-164-2td (Wichterman 5-99; Ross 7-40-2td; Neely 3-25; Frye 1-0). Frontier 49-459-td ( Snyder 13-49, Cox 19-43-td, Kirkpatrick 4-30, Benson 7-22, Brooker 2-9, Dalrymple 1-5, Douglass 1-3, Taylor 1-3, Strickler 1-(-4)).

PASSING: Cameron 9-14 150-2td (all Wichterman). 3-9 50-int (all Cox).

RECEIVING: Cameron 9-150-2td (Burkett 6-114-td; Debolt 2-25-td; Neely 1-15). 3-50 (Hendershot 2-48; Kirkpatrick 1-2).

FIRST DOWNS: Cameron 12. Frontier 12.

PENALTIES: Cameron 3-35. Frontier 3-15.

FUMBLES: Cameron 1-1. Frontier 5-2.