photo by: Kim North

Cameron’s Marshall Holland (1) carries the ball in a game against River earlier this season. Holland and the Dragons welcome Meadow Bridge to Dragon Field on Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

CAMERON – Cameron is looking for a repeat of last year’s run to the W. Va. Class A state championship football game when playoff action begins Saturday afternoon.

The No. 7 seeded Dragons (6-3) will play host to No. 10 Meadow Bridge (7-3) on the artificial surface at Dragon Field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

Playing at home will be a plus for Cameron, head coach Tim Brown said.

“Our fans will be here to support us and the feeling of being at home is a real advantage during the early rounds of the playoffs,” he said.

Cameron is just 10-16 in 16 playoff appearances. However, the Dragons are 5-4 in games played at Dragon Field.

Both teams will enter their first-ever matchup on losing streaks. Cameron dropped a 36-28 decision at home to Pendleton County last week, while the Wildcats have lost two straight to Buffalo (64-52) and Craig Co., Va. (36-0).

The Dragons were rated No. 1 for the first several weeks after beating Clay-Battelle (22-16), St. Marys (40-2) and River (46-15), but a loss to Tyler Consolidated (14-12) dropped them in the ratings. They have also defeated Valley (44-16), Bridgeport (53-6) and East Hardy (8-7). Their other loss came at the hands of Monroe Central (28-6) .

Meanwhile, Meadow Bridge started 4-0 with wins over Pocahontas County (18-12), Wyoming East (23-16), Summers County (26-6) and Valley (55-12). They also beat Bland Co., Va. (38-14), Richwood (55-20) and Montcalm (32-12). They lost to Clay-Battelle (54-12) in week 5.

“Meadow Bridge has a very efficient running game which utilizes 3 or 4 running backs. The backs are big, strong players and that means we will need to tackle well,” Brown said. “They do a nice job of mixing in play action and deep threat passing to keep you honest on defense. Defensively, they are big up front and the linebackers lead them in tackling.”

Brown is hoping the experience from last season’s playoff run will help this year.

“Several of our players have playoff experience from the past few years. The guys will be focused,” he said. “The game will be another step on the path to the goals they set for themselves at the beginning of the season.”

Cameron has been bitten by the injury bug more than once this year, but it has persevered.

“We have been plagued by injuries all season,” he stressed. “We began the season with 30 players. We have averaged dressing 22 players throughout the season. We have lost several starters. The coaching staff and the young replacements have done, and will continue to do, the best job possible to prepare each player to be successful. It is a next-man-up mentality.”

Cameron is led by the play of senior quarterback Kason Angel and junior running back Marshall Holland. Angel has completed 50 of 97 passes for 821 yards, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has run the ball 45 times for 763 yards and two more touchdowns. Holland has picked up 1,166 yards and scored 10 touchdowns on 164 carries. He has also caught seven passes for 126 yards and three more TDs.

Sophomore Talen Brown has had an excellent season on both sides of the ball. Offensively, the grandson of the head coach has rushed for 309 yards and five TDs on 48 carries; and hauled in 11 passes for 204 yards and a TD. Defensively, he has compiled 58 total tackles, 11 TFLs, sacked the quarterback five times, recovered two fumbles and intercepted a pair of passes.

Senior Soier Reed is the leading receiver with 21 catches for 356 yards and three TDs. Sterling Reed has 10 receptions for 146 yards and two scores while Colin Magers has reached the end zone on all three of his catches for 15 yards.

Carter Paczewski leads the Dragons in tackles from his linebacker position. He has 67 total. Angel and Soier Reed have each intercepted three passes.

“We will need to limit their first- and second-down yardage. Our defense needs to force turnovers and negative yardage plays,” Coach Brown noted. “Offensively, we need to stay in front of the sticks by staying on our blocks and getting to their linebackers. No turnovers is always the goal on offense.”