By Craig Hull
Special to The Globe
LAMAR, Mo. —
On the fourth snap of his first start at quarterback, Brett Campbell threw an interception.
During his second series and first rush of the game, he fumbled resulting in a Carl Junction touchdown.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound junior admitted he was a little nervous, but shook off the two mistakes, settled in and guided Lamar to a season-opening victory at Thomas M. O’Sullivan Stadium Friday night.
The Tigers rushed for 414 yards and held Carl Junction to 10 yards of total offense in a 38-7 victory.
Campbell, who started as a varsity cornerback last season, made his first varsity start at quarterback and responded by posting 158 yards on 22 carries.
“With so many starters back on the offensive side of the ball, a lot of the stress is off of me because of them,’’ Campbell said. “I threw that first pick and it really helped because I knew I had my first mistake out of the way.’’
Campbell guided the Tigers’ double-wing shotgun with a single setback offense racking up yards on quarterback draw and counter draw plays with wing backs Markell White and Cory Lear demanding the Bulldog defense honor their pre-snap motion.
“Early in the game, I was not going through my motions completely and at halftime, the coaches told me to wait for my running backs so I could let the blocks set up in front of me,’’ Campbell said.
Of his 22 carries, he was never tackled for a loss, twice he was stopped for no gain and his shortest gain was four yards.
White, a 5-9 175 junior, added 132 yards on 25 carries with three touchdowns in the game — two in the Tigers running game and another on special teams.
Campbell’s early fumble was returned 51 yards by Carl Junction sophomore Nickolas Thompson with 7:12 left in the first quarter.
The Tigers took the lead on Lear’s 10-yard wingback reverse and Jared Beshore’s two-point conversion run with 7:12 left in the second quarter.
White later capped a 5 play, 49-yard drive with a 14-yard wingback counter for a 15-7 halftime score.
Lamar scored a safety sacking Carl Junction’s Andrew Snyder with 7:00 left in the third quarter and on the ensuing free kick, White fielded a low line-drive kick at the 33 and sprinted past a wave of Bulldog defenders before he cut back to his right outrunning a last defender for a 67-yard return touchdown.
White added a three-yard touchdown run on fourth down with 4:01 left in the fourth quarter. Lamar’s final touchdown came from Beshore — in with the varsity reserves — who broke a 28-yard run with :31.8 remaining.
“When the offensive line is moving people back and you’re not getting hit until you are past the linebackers and into the secondary, it’s easy to get confident,’’ Lamar head coach Scott Bailey said. “Last year we had a quarterback who couldn’t get rattled and this year in Brett, we have another quarterback who I don’t think can be rattled. He is going to sit in there, do his job and do what he needs to do to help our offense be successful. He might of have carried the ball 22 times tonight, but if he carries it two times next week and we win, that’s all he is going to care about.’’
The Bulldogs 10 yards of offense was split even — five yards passing and rushing — with senior halfback Trenton Landes rushing for 23 yards on 16 carries.
Thompson finished with a fumble recovery for a touchdown and a pair of interceptions totaling 15 yards of returns between the two picks. Junior Dillan Minta also recovered two fumbles as Carl Junction recorded five takeaways.
Campbell and Gariss intercepted Snyder and senior Jase Masterson recovered a fumble to account for the Tigers’ three takeaways.
“We did absolutely nothing (on offense); we didn’t execute,’’ Carl Junction head coach Jesse Wall said. “But on the other hand, Lamar played extremely well. They played harder than we did; they played better than we did. Defensively, we looked good at times, but when they are on the field that much, you’re going to give up some plays.’’
