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TOP PHOTO: Who knew when the Cougars charged onto Clell Huskey Memorial Field what a thrilling game was ahead.
By Clayton Carroll
SEYMOUR, TN (WLAF) – Your Campbell Co. Cougars journeyed to Seymour to face off against The Kings Academy Lions for the first time in school history. The Cougars were coming fresh off their first victory of the season against Fulton. TKA was looking for their first win as they lost their first two games to Grace Christian and CAK by a combined score of 78-27.
Upon receiving the football first, Campbell started off well on their first drive, getting Keagon Cowan and Gavin Owens involved in the run game. The Cougars drove 53 yards down field, with Cowan capping off the drive with a five-yard trot into the end zone.
The first half, as well as the entire game, was very back-and-forth. The half would end with with Campbell Co. leading The King’s Academy by a score of 14-13.
After a halftime where the lights did not go off, unlike against Fulton a week ago, the two teams were ready to battle it out for another half.
On the first play of the second half, the snap sailed over the head of the TKA quarterback, rolling all the way to the end zone. A TKA Lion had no choice but to fall upon the ball, resulting in a safety, the first safety that Campbell has forced this year.
Things were looking good for Campbell Co. as they capitalized on the positive field possession. Keagon Cowan would dash 34 yards down the field into the end zone. After, the successful PAT from Rylan Sanders, the Cougars led by a score of 23-13.
It appeared as if Campbell would begin to run away with the game. However, that would be far from what happened.
The Kings Academy stormed back with 20 unanswered points of their own, taking the lead by a score of 33-23 with just under 5 minutes left to go in the 4th quarter.
All hope looked lost for Campbell, but the Cougars would not quit. Quarterback Landen Hensley led a two play, 55 yard drive which consisted of a 39 yard connection between Hensley and K. J. Chadwell, and a 16 yard pass from Hensley to Luke Lindsay for a touchdown.
Still, the Cougars were down 33-30 with under 4 minutes to go. The Cougars defense though would stop The King’s Academy, giving Hensley one final chance to put together a game winning drive. The Cougars scored on a long pass play. However, it was called back on penalties like one other touchdown pass earlier in the game. This time, after a taunting penalty, and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Campbell was faced with a first down and 40 from its 17 yard line.
Campbell’s sideline was somber in knowing that it didn’t look good for them. However, Landen Hensley and Timmy Gibson decided to cheer them up a bit.
Gibson was able to get open on a slant route and Hensley saw it. Hensley completed the pass to Gibson and let him go to work on TKA’s secondary. Timmy Gibson broke 4 tackles to run 83 yards for a touchdown, giving the Cougars a 36-33 lead with just over a minute to go. Campbell’s defense would hold TKA with K.J. Chadwell tipping away a Hail Mary pass in the end zone as the horn sounded, keeping the score where it was, giving the Cougars a happy ride home to Campbell County.
Through the air, Hensley had a solid game. He went 17 for 29 with 279 yards. 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions.
Rushing, Hensley had five carries, one of which was a touchdown. Gavin Owens had a modest six carries for 28 yards.
Keagon Cowan was the leading rusher for the Orange and Blue on 12 carries for 136 yards and two touchdowns.
There was one Cougar in particular who really stood out on the defensive side of the ball. That player was Luke Carroll. Luke came ready to play against The King’s Academy. Carroll had an impressive eight tackles on his own, one of which being a tackle for loss, as well as assisting his fellow Cougars such as Blake Albright and Jamal Wright with some big hits as well.
After the game, I asked Luke if he had a hatred toward the color purple and was taking out his vengeance on The King’s Academy (TKA wore all purple Friday night). Carroll responded back in hilarious fashion saying, “I don’t like Grimace.†Grimace of course being the former famous purple mascot for McDonalds. After the humorous response, Luke Carroll was all business, giving credit to the entire Cougar defense. Carroll mentioned that it was a good game for him, but a good game for the whole team as well.
Coach Justin Price addressed his team postgame, telling them to enjoy the comeback victory, but that there is a lot to clean up before the big matchup against Clinton.
Campbell County (2-1) faces off against Clinton (1-2) in the first region game of the year for either team on Reynolds Field this Friday. Kickoff is at 7 pm, and Les Martin and Brent Allen will bring you all the live coverage beginning at 6:30 pm over WLAF’s nine media outlets. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 09/05/2023-6AM)