Mills leads Campbell football to quarterfinal win over Laconia

MANCHESTER - Running back Keegan Mills came into Saturday’s playoff game as if it were any other week. He’s ready to hit and be hit.

On Saturday afternoon, in the driving rain at Manchester Memorial High School, the Campbell football team utilized the strength of its junior bell cow to record a 38-18 victory over Laconia in a penalty-rich Division III football quarterfinal.

The third-seeded Cougars and sixth-seeded Sachems combined for 23 penalties totaling 210 yards, including a double personal foul that led to Campbell senior Jacob Kidwell being ejected for a verbal infraction in the first quarter.

“At the end of the day, as I always say, we are our own worst enemy,” Campbell coach Glen Costello said. “When we play football we’re a pretty good team. In the first half we made stupid mistakes that have haunted us for a while. Then we didn’t have a ton of them in the second half, and you saw the results.”Campbell’s ugly start was quickly overshadowed by Mills, who pushed, pulled, powered and sprinted his way to 208 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries. He also added a pair of two-point rushes and completed a pass for two more.

Laconia was strong defensively early on, but the 6-foot, 195-pounder and his offensive line eventually wore down the Sachems’ defensive front to open more running lanes as the game progressed.

“Our offensive line works so hard,” Mills said. “I tell them all the time, ‘Just keep working. Just keep fighting. If you guys make the smallest hole I’ll find it.”

He found holes of all sizes to squeeze or breeze through on Saturday, propelling the Cougars into the semifinals. A game that will be in Litchfield at 1 p.m. Nov. 10 against Stevens, after the seventh-seeded Cardinals upset No. 2 Trinity 7-0 Saturday night.

Mills opened the scoring midway through the first quarter on a 4-yard run and added two points for an 8-0 lead. His second score came on a 1-yard run with 2:07 remaining in the second quarter to regain the lead at 16-12. He powered his way in from the 1 again for his third rushing TD with 10:07 to play in the fourth quarter to close the scoring.

Quarterback Adam Breton also had a big day for Campbell, connecting on four passes (seven attempts) for 41 yards and a 12-yard touchdown pass to Chad Martel; and rushing for 43 yards and a score on seven carries.

The Cougars totaled 345 yards offensively in the win.

The Breton-Martel hookup came two and a half minutes into the second half, giving Campbell a 24-12 lead. Breton was set up for his 5-yard TD run courtesy of Mills who scampered 64 yards two plays earlier. That score put the Cougars up 32-18 with 3:48 left in the third quarter.

Laconia was in desperation mode from then on. Forced to throw the ball, Sachems quarterback Karter Greenwood was sacked three times and intercepted three times (twice by Cam Barrett and once by Martel) in the final 15 minutes of play.

“It’s a weird game with a lot of weird stuff going on out there,” said Laconia coach Craig Kozens, whose offense totaled 217 yards, 109 on the ground. “It was a game of momentum. We had them imploding and couldn’t put them away. And then we imploded in the second half.”