Campbell football grinds out close win over ConVal (video)

LITCHFIELD - There are plenty of wrinkles on offense for the Campbell High School football team.

But when push came to shove late in Saturday's game against ConVal, the home team did just that.

In need of a time-eating drive in the fourth quarter, Campbell went on one, going 88 yards on nine plays and getting a game-clinching touchdown run from Nate Perry to secure a 16-0 win for the home Cougars over the visiting Cougars in a Division III matchup.

Perry was one of six players to record a carry for Campbell (2-0), rushing for 83 yards and the score on 15 attempts, while Garrett Arnold led the home Cougars with 103 yards and a touchdown on eight carries and also caught three passes for 32 yards. Overall, Campbell picked up 274 of its 322 yards on the ground.

"That’s what we want to identify ourselves as when we get going," Campbell coach Glen Costello said. "We have athletes where we can spread them out, but at the end of the day, we want to be able to run off tackle."

Led by Evan St. Pierre and George Ivas, Campbell was also able to contain ConVal's offense for most of the day, as the visiting Cougars (0-2) had just 88 yards on offense, led by Wyatt Hutchinson, who had 52 yards rushing on 12 carries. ConVal, which didn't play last season due to COVID-19, had just five first downs and ran only 16 plays on Campbell's side of the field, all in the second half.

"It’s interesting to coach this group right now, because they didn’t play football last year," ConVal first-year coach Mike Jillson said. "You’ve got to keep putting everything back into perspective of where you’re at on the timeline. Guys I have who are seniors and playing a lot, the last time they played, they were sophomores. How much did they play?

"Compound that with the fact that, for a full cycle, they haven’t been in a program. There’s been nobody talking football or hanging out as football, or any kind of a program. We’re at a bit of a disadvantage."

But for most of the day, ConVal's defense was able to keep Campbell out of the end zone. The home Cougars lost two fumbles inside ConVal territory and were 3 for 7 on fourth-down attempts.

Arnold broke the scoreless tie midway through the second quarter, when he got outside and raced down the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown with 5:26 remaining in the first half. Scott Hershberger ran in the two-point conversion to give Campbell an 8-0 lead.

"We lost leverage and we lost contain," Jillson said. "(Arnold) is good. With our first group, we’re misplaying the wide side, we weren’t doing our job and they got us. He flexed his tight end on us, we didn’t get leverage. We’re learning."

Disaster nearly struck Campbell to start the second half, when a fumble on the opening kickoff left the home Cougars starting from their own 5-yard line. Another fumble on first down just made it out of the end zone and Campbell eventually punted.

A short kick was returned by Jaxon Salamy to the 15-yard line of Campbell, giving ConVal it's best field position of the day. But on the next play, Hutchinson fumbled and it was recovered by Campbell.

The home Cougars turned it over on downs at their own 32, but the visiting Cougars returned the favor after picked up just four yards on four plays.

ConVal finally pinned Campbell back in its own end midway through the fourth on a punt by Caleb Sanborn. Starting at the 12 with 7:21 remaining, Campbell put together a long touchdown drive, with Perry gaining 50 yards on the drive on the ground.

"We didn’t change anything," Costello said of the winning drive. "We had a couple of fumbles, a couple of penalties, and we’re in tough shape like everybody else. If we’re going to be good, we have to limit the mental mistakes."

Perry scored from 2-yards out with 3:32 to play and the Campbell defense did the rest.