Buies Creek – Campbell led 49-0 at halftime and rolled to a 70-0 win over Methodist Thursday night in the football season opener for both teams at Barker-Lane Stadium.
Campbell (1-0) scored twice on special teams and led 35-0 at the end of the first quarter. The lead grew to 63-0 before Methodist (0-1) crossed midfield for the first time with less than 1:00 remaining in the third quarter.
Joshua Jones ran for a career-high 111 yards on 19 carries in his first start at running back, while junior Aaron Blockmon recorded his eighth-career 100-yard receiving game (105) on two catches. Jaquan Brooks broke a school record for punt return yards (141) for the Camels, who won their season opener for the third-straight year.
The Camels tallied the second-largest scoring total and margin of victory in the program’s Division I era (since 2008) behind a 76-0 win vs. Apprentice on Sept. 10, 2011.
Campbell rolled up 434 yards of total offense, averaging 6.9 yards per play, while holding the Division III Monarchs to just 62 yards (1.1 per play). Defensive end Emmanuel Olenga led the Camels with 10 tackles, including a school-record 4.5 sacks.
Trey Sanders returned the opening kick-off 42 yards to the Methodist 48 and the Camels took only five plays to score. Anthony Robbins kept the ball on a read-option and ran in from 24 yards to put the Camels on the board just 1:42 into the game.
Davion Anderson forced a Carlos McCracken fumble on the ensuing kick-off and Carlos Merritt recovered in the end zone for a 14-0 Camel lead with 13:09 left in the first quarter. Robbins hooked up with tight end Michael Wooten on a 33-yard scoring pass for a 21-0 lead with 7:28 to play.
After a three-and-out, Brooks returned Robert Lamelas’ punt 54 yards for a 28-0 advantage. Methodist then picked up its initial first down on a Campbell pass interference penalty, but Dante Simmons’ interception two plays later gave the Camels the ball at the Monarch 48.
Robbins hit Blockmon on a 34-yard scoring pass with 1:05 left in the opening stanza and the Camels set a school mark for highest scoring quarter, breaking the old record of 34 points in the Apprentice game.
Jones’ eight-yard run and Zach Roderick’s seven-yard TD catch from Daniel Smith pushed the edge to 49-0 at the half.
Sammie Cunningham ran in from five yards and Smith hit Bryan Bailey on an 18-yard score for a 63-0 Camel lead at the end of three quarters. Smith scored on a 17-yard QB keeper with 4:46 to play to round out the scoring.
Brooks broke the school record for punt return yardage in the opening period alone with 114 that included a 55-yard return in addition to his scoring romp.
Starter Anthony Robbins completed 2-of-5 passes for 67 yards and two scores, while Smith hit 5-of-7 for 106 yards and a pair of TDs.
E’Montie Dears rushed 13 times for 25 yards for the Monarchs, whose longest gain of the night was 12 yards. Starting quarterback Steve Keoni completed 3-of-8 passes for 11 yards and three interceptions. Devan Cox came off the bench to hit on 6-of-11 attempts for 33 yards. Xzavier McNeil had 4 catches for 30 yards.
The decision matched a 77-7 Methodist setback against Ferrum in 1990 for the worst losing margin in school history.
Campbell returns to action at Barker-Lane Stadium next Saturday, Sept. 9th in a6:00 PM kick-off against Georgetown. Methodist hosts Guilford next Saturday at1:00 p.m.
