By Clayton Carroll

MORRISTOWN, TN. (WLAF)- The Campbell County Cougars, fresh off a bye week after defeating Karns 49-14, traveled to East High School at Morristown to face off against the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes, coming off a bye week themselves, were looking for their first win. Not only were the Hurricanes wanting their first taste of victory, it was also senior night at Burke-Toney Stadium, giving the Canes another incentive to play hard.

Campbell won the toss, elected to receive, and started off strong on their first drive of the game until Gavin Owens fumbled right before he crossed the goal line. East would recover the fumble and get to work. The Canes’ shift didn’t last long as Timmy Gibson would rip the ball away from an East receiver. Gavin Owens would redeem himself and rush into the end zone from inside the five, putting Campbell up 7-0 after Rylan Sanders hit the PAT.

Campbell would continue to have a strong offense throughout the first half, holding on to a 21-9 lead at halftime. 

Campbell’s defense, led by Cougars such as Storm Webb, Luke Carroll and Luc Ward, would force a punt on Morristown East’s first possession of the second half. Gavin Owens would have a huge 24 yard rush putting the Cougars at East’s 23 yard line. Following an in-completion, Quarterback Landen Hensley decided to use his legs to dash all 23 yards into the end zone. Following the Sanders PAT, Campbell led 28-9.

The Hurricanes wouldn’t quit though. The Canes retaliated, making the score 28-16. Gavin Owens decided the lead was not large enough and dashed into the end zone for 6 more. Still though, East fought hard, scoring again to make the score 34-22. 

The pattern of East scoring, and Gavin Owens scoring right after continued, as after another long drive for Campbell, Owens capped it off with a touchdown.

With 2:14 left to go, following the second of Luke Lindsay’s two interceptions which essentially put the game in the bag, what had been a contentious affair, between both teams, finally boiled over. Flags were flying, words were exchanged, and players were separated. If this was not bad enough, Campbell’s Blake Albright committed his second personal foul penalty of the game, resulted in him being ejected.

After all of this, Campbell County got out of Morristown with a win, defeating the Hurricanes 41-31. This win puts Campbell County at 4-5 on the season, and Morristown East still looking for its win, falling to 0-9 on the year.

For Campbell, Gavin Owens had his third 5+ touchdown game of the year. Owens ran for 189 yards, and had four touchdowns on the ground. Receiving wise, Owens had 3 catches for 49 yards and a TD. Owens’ 189 yards on the ground and 49 yards receiving made him both the leading rusher and receiver of the game. 

Passing, Hensley went 6 for 14 with a modest 60 yards, a touchdown and a pick. On the ground, Hensley had 79 yards with a touchdown.

Joining Owens with completions, Gabe St. John had 2 catches for 6 yards, and K.J. Chadwell had one catch for 8 yards.

Keagon Cowan, who had 2 rushes for 7 yards, had a critical fumble recovery as well. In total, Campbell forced 4 turnovers.

Also, with Karns losing to Clinton on Friday night, Campbell County clinched a spot in the playoffs, giving the Cougars something to look forward to and work toward at the end of the regular season.

The Cougars’ last game of the regular season will be at Blankenship Field in Oak Ridge against the 7-2 Wildcats. Kickoff is Thursday at 7 pm. Les Martin and Brent Allen will bring you all the coverage over our various media outlets beginning at 6:30 on WLAF.

(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED 10/23/2023- 6AM)

Related