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CAMERON - The wait is over for the Cameron Dragons, who will change gears from their marathon of the past 13 games to a sprint to the finish line Friday at noon when they face Wahama (13-0) in the Class A state championship on Laidley Field in Charleston.
Cameron, seeded fourth in Class A, has defeated Valley, Doddridge County and top-seeded Tug Valley to make their first-ever state championship game appearance. The Dragons are playoff-tested as they can be heading into their high noon showdown.
"Valley got into the playoffs and we had a pretty good game there," Cameron head coach Tim Brown said. "Then we had Doddridge, who've taken us out a couple times in the past, and I thought they were a very good team and our boys handled them fairly well. All that gave us some confidence, taught us some things about ourselves, we made some adjustments.
"Then Tug Valley, undefeated, No. 1-ranked, you're preparing for somebody who's earned that spot. Coming into that, we thought we could beat them, but we did not expect that we were going to play a near-perfect game and the dominance that they showed that night was just such a great feeling for our community and our kids. I think that gave us confidence that, whoever steps in front of us, they need to prepare, because we are going to prepare."
The team that Cameron has spent the last week preparing for is the undefeated White Falcons, headlined by senior running back Connor Lambert, who currently has 2,046 rushing yards and 40 rushing touchdowns on the season.
Wahama reached the championship round by knocking off Tucker County.
"Wahama dispensed of a very good Tucker team similar to how we did," Brown said. "When you go to attack a team like that, you have to prepare like every yard is going to matter."
Cameron's own headliner is fellow senior running back Klypsan Wallace, who has 1,817 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns heading into Friday.
Each team counting on talented backs is one of many similarities Brown sees between his team and their opponent.
"A well-rounded team," Brown said of Wahama. "People have told us throughout the season- 'you guys and Wahama are very similar.' When you watch them on film, it's true. Different styles of offense and defense, but the athleticism, the size, the way that they distribute the ball between several people, defensively the way that they have some rushers, some run-stoppers, some decent defensive backs and linebackers, they really are similar to our team."
Reezin Stitt and Ben Wintrhow make up the backbone of the Wahama defense as a sure-tackling, athletic linebacker duo. Cameron has defensive stars of their own as well, with freshman Talen Brown recording double-digit sacks and senior defensive back Mason Scott shutting down opposing passing attacks.
"As far as the matchups go, we may have a slight advantage with our receivers over their defensive backs because they have just done a stellar job and our quarterback [Kason Angel]'s been very accurate with only one interception and 20, 21 touchdowns. He has done a good job of taking care of the football and if he continues to do that, I think we'll be okay there."
The Dragons are expecting their last challenge to be their toughest, with the biggest win in their program's history up for grabs.
"It's going to come down to- like a lot of football does- if we can move the sticks, not have turnovers, not have negative plays," Brown said. "I think we're going to be okay because I think our defense has been pretty stout. That being said, Wahama has been a big-play team all year. You're going to have to limit those big plays because believe me, they're going to find a way to get their good athletes the ball."
"We have to make good open-field tackles, we're going to have to line up in good position to start plays, and we're going to have to stay healthy throughout the game. This game, just like the last one, we're going to prepare as if it's a one-point game."'