Buies Creek – Jelani Williamson’s 32-yard return of a fumble recovery with 1:27 to play lifted Georgetown to a 16-10 victory over Campbell Saturday night at Barker-Lane Stadium.
With the score tied at 10, Anthony Robbins completed a pass to Trey Sanders in the right flat, but Blaise Brown knocked the ball free and Williamson picked it up; then ran in for the decisive score. Jack Ryan blocked Brad Hurst’s point-after attempt.
Just two plays before the deciding fumble, Hurst missed a 43-yard field goal attempt wide left that could have put the Hoyas ahead.
Campbell (1-1) drove into Georgetown territory in the final minute, but David Akere intercepted Robbins’ fourth down pass to end a potential rally.
Despite picking up only eight first downs, the Hoyas (1-0) earned the victory by forcing four turnovers and limiting the Camels to just 60 yards on the ground. Georgetown, which returned eight starters from a unit that led the Patriot League in total defense a year ago, limited the Camels to an average of 1.4 yards per carry on the night.
Robbins finished 31-of-48 for 269 yards and a score, but was picked off twice. Aaron Blockmon (70 yards), Jaquan Brooks, Zach Roderick and Josh Jones each finished with five receptions. Jones, who rushed for 111 yards last week in his first career start, was held to 32 on 15 attempts Saturday night.
Emmanuel Olenga, Deontae Henderson and Jack Ryan led Campbell with seven tackles each.
Playing in front of the 10th sellout crowd at Barker-Lane Stadium since 2013, Campbell finished with a 329-305 edge in total offense and ran 90 plays to only 55 for the visitors.
Daniel Yankovich and Cameron Seward had 11 tackles each for Georgetown, while Akere added 10 stops for the Hoyas, who sacked Robbins seven times and hurried the senior signal caller on two other occasions.
Georgetown quarterback Tim Barnes completed 14-of-28 passes for 180 yards and one score, while tossing two interceptions. Michael Dereus had six receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown. Alex Valles led the Hoyas on the ground with 47 yards on five attempts.
CU took a 7-3 lead with 9:32 left in the third quarter on Robbins’ 19 yard pass down the left sideline to Sanders. Robbins found Blockmon twice on 15-yard completions in the 9-play drive that covered 67 yards.
Georgetown took only four plays to move back in front. Valles started the 81-yard drive with a 33-yard run. Barnes then hooked up with Dereus on a 32-yard scoring catch to give the Hoyas a 10-7 edge with 7:54 to go in the third.
Deontae Henderson picked off Barnes’ pass at the Campbell 16, returned it 42 yards, and a personal foul on the Hoyas gave CU a first down at the Georgetown 27 with 1:42 to play in the third. However, Robbins was picked off two plays later by Akere when Blaise Brown tipped the ball, and it ended up in his teammate’s hands.
Campbell drove 49 yards on 12 plays, including a pair of fourth-down conversions, and tied the score on Mitchell Brown’s 24-yard field goal with 10:20 left in the final quarter.
Both teams drove deep into enemy territory in the opening half, but Hurst’s 42-yard field goal provided Georgetown with the only points before the break.
The Camels moved into the Hoya red zone on a 14-play drive, but a sack, incompletion and rushing loss pushed the ball back to the 23. Mitchell Brown’s 40-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.
A short punt gave Georgetown the ball on the Campbell 31, but the defense held setting up Hurst’s boot that proved to be the only points of the half with 7 seconds left in the opening period.
The Camels took the opening possession of the second quarter and drove 72 yards on 12 plays to the Georgetown three before Jones fumbled and the ball was recovered by Williamson.
Barnes hooked up with Dereus on completions of 46 and 23 yards and the Hoyas drove to the Camel 12. However, a bad snap, personal foul and holding penalty pushed Georgetown back to midfield.
Campbell finished with a 161-112 edge in total offense in the opening period, but came away with no points against a Georgetown defense that ranked second in the country last year in red zone defense.
Saturday’s attendance of 5853 at 5500-seat Barker-Lane Stadium is the ninth-largest in the facility’s history and the 10th sellout since the completion of the west stand in 2013.
Campbell returns to action this Saturday, Sept. 16th with a 7:00 p.m. kick-off at Presbyterian. Georgetown hosts Marist this Saturday at 1:00.
