MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Playing its second game in 72 hours, Class A No. 2 Cameron overcame a sluggish first half and persevered past No. 4 Trinity to remain unbeaten with a 22-13 victory.
The Dragons (5-0) defeated Madonna in Weirton on Tuesday, and in an effort to catch up on games, they were back at it three days later for their first of two matchups this season against the Warriors.
“We played two games this week and it really messed with our kids,” CHS head coach Tim Brown said. “That was my call. I’ll never do it again. We’re trying to get these kids games because of covid and all that stuff, but we come and play two good teams in one week and it just doesn’t give you time to get mentally and physically prepared.”
Cameron overcame separate one-score deficits of 7-0 and 13-8, and didn’t wrap up the victory until Payton Neely’s 35-yard touchdown run provided the final margin with 2:40 to play.
Trinity (2-1) had a chance to perhaps tie or take the lead on its previous possession, but the Dragons’ Landon Tustin brought down Trinity’s Levi Teets for a 3-yard loss on fourth-and-2 from the Cameron 24-yard line.
“I tell our guys all the time you either win or you learn,” Trinity head coach Christopher Simpson said. “There’s no losing in our program. We will learn what we have to learn from today, move forward and progress from this. We’ll get better and stronger from this.”
While the Warriors had great difficulty moving the ball over the first two quarters, their defense came up big to blank Cameron and keep the contest scoreless.
The best scoring opportunity over the first two quarters came late in the opening half, when the Dragons marched 79 yards in nine plays to position themselves with a second-and-goal at the Trinity 4. But a fumble on an exchange between Colson Wichterman and Isaac Ball was recovered by the Warriors’ Jaylon Hill, allowing Trinity to keep the game scoreless.
“Trinity did a nice job and threw some things at us defensively that caused some problems,” Brown said. “We just kept stepping on our own toes. We made a lot of mistakes, had a lot of penalties, we lined up wrong three or four times and messed up the play. We had to check ourselves a little bit. I don’t think we were as prepared as we thought we were to come in and be smooth.“
The Warriors took a 7-0 lead 13 seconds into the second half when Carmelo Kniska fielded the opening kickoff and raced 76 yards to the end zone.
But the Dragons needed only 3:14 to answer and got their first TD on a 6-yard run by Wichterman, who also ran in the two-point conversion to give his team an 8-7 lead.
Cole Burkett intercepted Hill on the ensuing series, but the Dragons lost fumbles on each of their next two possessions, the latter of which was recovered by Teets.
Starting from the Cameron 12, the Warriors took their second and final lead when Hill scored on a 4-yard run. The point-after kick was unsuccessful, leaving Trinity with a 13-8 lead at the 3:29 mark of the third quarter.
The Dragons answered quickly again, marching 60 yards in seven plays and regaining the lead on Neel’s 4-yard TD run. Neely also ran in the two-point play, leaving CHS with a 16-13 lead 19 seconds before the fourth quarter.
“When it comes down to it, I know that these kids are going to get it together, work hard and pull for each other,” Brown said. “Even when we make mistakes, we’re going to let it go and go to the next play. We preach next play all the time and in life you have to do that as well. Things aren’t always going to go your way and things aren’t going to go the way you think they should, but you have to get up and go to the next play with a good attitude and go as hard as you can. I’m proud of our kids for doing that.”
In addition to Cameron’s final stand, the Dragons also held the Warriors early in the fourth quarter when they forced Hill’s incomplete pass on fourth-and-5 from the CHS 37.
With only 16 players dressed and several battling injury, Trinity struggled to execute late.
“At the end of the day, it’s a numbers battle, and they’re only starting one lineman both ways,” Simpson said. “That takes its toll. Injuries hurt. There were times I felt like we could have fought a little harder, but when you only have 14 guys dressed, you have to make the most of what you have.
“I’m really proud of the way my guys played today. They fought with a lot of heart and they fight with so much more heart than what our numbers say.”