By Stephen Smoot
“Thus as they spake together the dragon appeared and came running to them, and St. George was upon his horse, and drew out his sword and garnished him with the sign of the Cross, and rode hardily against the dragon which came towards him, and smote him with his spear and hurt him sore and threw him to the ground.” Jacobus de Voragine “The Golden Legend” 1275 AD
Even St. George would have struggled to match the size, speed, balanced attack, and discipline of the Cameron Dragons who, since the first week of the season have vanquished all who stood before them. The closest that any team has played them since was Tyler Consolidated, who lost 13-6.
Pendleton County kicker Gabe Harvey, along with his kickoff team, pinned the Dragons deep in their own territory, toppling the returner at the six-yard line. They gained all but one of the yards needed to get a first down and, as a result, punted away to Pendleton County.
The Wildcats started their opening drive at their own 42. Colton Roberson rolled right and found Chase Owens for a six-yard reception. The offense got as far as the Cameron 25 before a 12-yard sack on third down helped to end the drive.
Cameron took possession after the Wildcats turned the ball over on downs, but struggled to move the ball against the defense. A 15-yard personal foul had the same effect on the Dragons as the sack on the Wildcats, stalling out the drive.
The first quarter would continue along those lines, each team punching and counter punching. In the opening two plays of the second quarter, however, Cameron’s speedy skilled players found openings in the defense, the first for 44 yards to the Wildcat 14, and then another run to find the endzone. The kick failed and Cameron had a 6-0 lead with 11:30 left in the first half.
Cameron’s speed and discipline on pass defense left Roberson few openings through which to thread his passes. The deep balls that Pendleton County has used to overwhelm regional defenses, Cameron also generally denied. After Cameron scored, they held the Wildcats to no gain on their next drive. When they got the ball back, they scored on five plays to extend the lead to 12-0 with 8:56 left in the half.
Despite falling behind, Pendleton County still had the mettle of St. George and continued to adjust and attack. Both teams exchanged punts through the rest of the half. Cameron tried to mount a drive in the last 90 seconds. They got to the Wildcat 25 with 1.8 seconds to play. After hearing the iconic opening of Europe’s “Final Countdown” prior to the play, the Wildcats prevented the Dragons from scoring.
Pendleton County opened the second half with the ball at their own 41 after a Cameron kickoff sailed out of bounds. Nick Rhodes’ hard running and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty took the ball into Dragon territory.
On third and five Roberson, who on the day went 11 for 24 for 155 yards, connected with Travis Owens, who took the ball ahead to the 22. On the next play, Roberson rolled right. Rhodes launched a savage block to keep a pass rusher off of the quarterback just as a touchdown strike was thrown to a sprinting Josiah Kimble in the endzone. Harvey’s kick was true, cutting the lead to 12-7.
Cameron then returned to work on offense, executing a 17 play drive that started at their own 36 and ended in a touchdown. This time, they succeeded in scoring on the two point conversion and edged the lead out to 20-7.
Undaunted, Harvey took the kickoff and brought it out to the Wildcat 40. On the second play of the drive, with 2:30 left in the third, Roberson hit Corbin Dove for a 23-yard reception. Shortly after a Cameron personal foul put Pendleton County on the 37, the Wildcats appeared stymied. Facing a fourth and five at the Dragon 32, Roberson tossed a pass to his right that a diving Chase Owens collected at the eight.
On third and goal at the five, Roberson outran the defense to the right post and cut the score to 20-13.
The Dragon running attack came right back, however. Their big offensive line started to wear down the Wildcat defenders, opening up space for their running backs. With eight minutes left in the game, they scored their last touchdown against Pendleton County’s regular varsity defense, pushing their lead out to 28-13.
The Wildcats still showed their claws. With 7:51 left, they received the ball at their own 36. Roberson’s first down pass to Chase Owens went for 12 yards. He caught a total of 64 on the day. Roberson then found Dove, who caught 38 total yards, streaking down the left sideline to the Dragon 31. Running plays by Rhodes, who totaled 40 on the day, and Roberson brought the Wildcats to the Cameron six with 4:17 remaining, but the Dragons halted the effort there.
With 3:57 remaining, the Wildcats substituted reserves on defense. Even with the touchdown scored on them, Pendleton County gave the Dragons one of their toughest outs of the year. At the same time, the offense and defense adapted and adjusted to the speed of their opponents. The game itself serves as vital preparation to help Pendleton County slay whichever opponent comes to Franklin in the first round of the state playoffs.
