HOLBROOK – After a tough offense last week at Wareham, the Holbrook/Avon High football team didn’t get off to an ideal start to Thursday’s game.
Mayflower League MVP Daveon Scott was injured on the first play of the game against Atlantis Charter, but junior Cameron Campbell stepped up Scott’s offense to score four touchdowns as the Bulldogs won 52-18.
“After last week we played flat in the first half,” Holbrook/Avon coach Michael Walsh said. “Today they came out shooting. No mistakes, we lost Daveon’s first game but another kid stepped in. We lost our save and another kid stepped in. And the line went so well play.
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Scott made the first play of the game on a running play to the right. He tried to get back into the game, but was eventually ruled out. Campbell finished with 144 rushing yards.
Campbell’s first touchdown came on the first drive of the game on a 9-yard run to the right to give the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead. Holbrook/Avon kept giving the ball to Campbell. His strong start continued with a 5-yard TD run with 1:20 left in the quarter.
Last week’s offensive struggles were a thing of the past, as the Bulldogs took a 30-0 halftime lead. Still, there is room for improvement on the defensive end as Holbrook/Avon were called up for face mask and encroachment penalties.
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“We’ll deal with that in film and practice,” Walsh said. “But overall we played well, especially in defence. We simplified it a bit. I was delighted.”
Campbell not only played on offense, but also as a defensive back. With 5:27 left in the second quarter, he intercepted a screen pass and returned it 20 yards for a score.,
“I read the QB’s eyes,” Campbell said. “I saw it open, the receiver dropped back and there I was, ready for it.”
With the league MVP leading the backfield, Campbell didn’t expect to be a workaholic on Thursday.
“It wasn’t really planned,” Campbell said. “We just came and did what we had to do. The coaches called my number and I had to do my job and it worked.
Campbell knew he had big shoes to fill.
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“I didn’t really expect that,” Campbell said. “But Daveon is so good. So I had to catch up with what he brings to the team and that’s what I was trying to do.
When Campbell was briefly out with an injury, senior Marquis Dobay-Lindsay stepped in. He scored on a 4-yard TD run to give the Bulldogs a 46-6 lead.
Holbrook/Avon quarterback Charles Luarasi also got some love with a one-yard stealth in the end zone. Kenzel Jean-Michel kicked back for a 75-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
As for the Tritons, they struggled offensively in the first half with six fumbles, several missed shots and negative plays.
“We just didn’t execute,” Atlantis Charter coach Kazeem Adediran said. “We gave up in the first half and it was all over from there.”
The Tritons failed to find the end zone in the second half. Devon Paradise turned a throw into a 19-yard touchdown. He also returned a kickoff from 90 yards for a score.
“Devon is a different animal,” Adediran said. “Devon is a dog. There are two types of men in this life. There are sheep and there are dogs and Devon happens to be a dog.
Brayden Quinn threw a 17-yard TD pass to Paradise, his third score of the day, to cap Atlantis Charter’s score.
For the Bulldogs, Walsh is looking to build on that and the program he has going. Although his team is relatively young, his 11 seniors assume leadership.
“They’ve been pretty good,” Walsh said of the upper classes. “I have a lot of middle school kids that we try to get equipment and games for them. There are 36 college kids, freshmen and up. It’s building and it’s going pretty well.
The Bulldogs are home next Friday when Cape Cod Tech comes to town at 6 p.m. Atlantis Charter hosts Minuteman at 6 p.m., also on Friday.