By Matt Maher
CAMPBELL, OH – The playoffs are right around the corner and both Waterloo and Campbell Memorial have found themselves on the outside looking in. With both teams being exactly 2 spots out of the top 16 in their regions a win was imperative for both teams to advance their season past 10 weeks.
The Vikings kicked things off with an onside kick that worked in their favor giving them great field position. The Vikings took a slower approach to their offensive game but the patience paid off because with 7:59 to go Landon McClain threw a 19 yard pass to Gage Hawley who was positioned in the end zone. The Vikings tried to add 2 points to their total but Campbell’s defense stepped up and stopped the chance.
Defense would be the name of the game, whether it be with 3rd down stops or 4th down turnovers or even forced fumbles both teams looked fairly evenly matched all night which is why it took until the 6:40 mark of the 2nd quarter for Demetrius Lambert to connect with D’Ondre Brown for a 31 yard touchdown. The Red Devils would see Lambert waltz into the end zone for a successful 2-point conversion and with more steady defense the half ended with an 8-6 Red Devil lead.
The 3rd quarter was the absolute best for fans of great defense. Neither team could get the edge on the other’s defense and both sides ended up spending the quarter punting away after failed tries on offense.
The defensive showing would stay true through the 4th quarter with it seeming like the game would end with more of the same. We saw more of the same until with over a minute to play the Vikings found themselves momentum with some incredible gains both on the ground and in the air and with 1:14 to play McClain would find his partner from the first quarter, a 14 yard pass to Hawley for a massive touchdown and the lead. The 2 point attempt would be swatted by Campbell and their offense came up next on a mission.
Mihali Koullias had stepped in as quarterback due to an earlier injury to Lambert. The Red Devils had found some nice gains and were moving the ball but eventually as they entered the Vikings side of the 50 Koullias would fumble the ball on 2nd down but Kevin Timlin would recover and run it a cool 30 yards down the field before being taken down BUT the referees had been blowing their whistle and called Koullias down before the ball came loose.
Campbell was furious with this ruling and Coach Andrew King let his feelings be very well known to the officials which caused his team to be pushed back a very long distance due to the great amount of unsportsmanlike penalties their coach had caused them. The Red Devils had to make the best of the situation now and on 3rd down ran the ball close to the original markers and Waterloo also moved them forward with an unsportsmanlike call of their own. The unsportsmanlike, however, did not result in an automatic first down nor did it result in the replay of 3rd down and so the Red Devils were forced into a 4th down situation caused by emotions and confusion.
Waterloo would end up stopping the Red Devils and taking a knee to end the game. The Vikings, despite what unfolded late in the game, earned themselves a very tightly contested victory over Campbell and kept their playoff hopes alive. Campbell still has a shot at a playoff berth but they need a lot of help from the teams above them in the standings and more so from those teams’ opponents. We will have to wait and see if either of these teams make the postseason but what a game it was for these two conference foes!
