Camden Fairview capitalized on El Dorado’s mistakes Friday, scoring 22 unanswered points in the second quarter en route to a 39-21 victory in the inaugural 7 South Showdown at Memorial Stadium.
The Cardinals improved to 1-1 and spoiled the Wildcats’ season opener.
“They just made more plays than we did tonight. We got some drives going offensively and then we’d make a mistake and go backwards. You can’t do that, especially in a game like that,” said El Dorado coach Steven Jones. “They gained the momentum early and they held onto it for most of the first half.
“At the end of the half we got something going. At halftime we felt like we had a good plan coming back out. We just made too many mistakes.”
Fairview’s Martavious Thomas rushed for 69 yards and threw for 97 and two touchdowns. The Cardinals rushed for 194 yards. Trent Haygood rushed for 69 yards on six attempts and had two receptions for 55 yards.
“I’m just so proud of our kids and their efforts, their energy. Not that El Dorado didn’t deserve to win but our kids needed this just to justify their hard work, how well they’ve practiced and all their preparation,” said Fairview coach Nick Vaughn. “They needed it and our coaches did, too. Our coaches have been working their tails off. Just super excited for all of them and for our school and our community.”
The Wildcats threw an interception, lost a fumble and lost an onsides kick. Shadarious Plummer provided the bulk of El Dorado’s offense, carrying 18 times for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Kolin Parker completed 12-of-24 for 154 yards. Torenzo Dunn had seven receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown.
The Cardinals recovered an onsides kick to start the game but El Dorado’s defense stood up with Takoi Steward sacking the quarterback and forcing a fumble.
The Wildcats took over at the 47 but gave the ball back two plays later when Khaleb Smith intercepted a screen pass and returned it to the 21. El Dorado’s defense again rose up, recording back-to-back sacks to force a punt.
The Wildcats finally mounted an offense, sparked by Plummer’s 26-yard run. Parker hit Dunn for 11 and 13 and Plummer carried for 12 to the Fairview 6-yard line.
An offsides penalty gave El Dorado second-and-goal from the 3. But a misplayed snap from the shotgun lost 16 yards and the Wildcats were forced to attempt a 36-yard field goal by sophomore Cooper Henry. The kick missed.
Fairview took over at the 20 and drove 80 yards in nine plays. Thomas hit Michal Griffith for 28 and then scrambled for 23 before Jaburee Lockhart scored on a 4-yard run with 11:09 left in the second quarter. Lockhart ran for the conversion and an 8-0 lead.
Vaughn said the turnaround on the botched snap and missed field goal to the Cardinals’ go-ahead touchdown was a big swing in the game.
“Absolutely, anytime you can a hold an opponent when they’re inside your 10 and you can find a way to force them to kick a field from depth, the momentum swing from the missed field goal from that, keeping them out of the end zone, it was just really, really huge,” he said. “We had another end zone stop later on. Those are huge momentum breaks for us that will pay off in the long run.”
“I don’t think we can single that play out as far as changing the game or things like that,” countered Jones. “We made so many other mistakes tonight. It’s on us to clean them up next week. Our kids are already focused on doing that. We’ll come in and work hard and be ready for conference play.”
After an El Dorado fumble, Fairview scored again on a 2-play, 27-yard drive with Haygood scoring on a 19-yard run. Nasir Khan kicked the PAT for a 15-0 lead with 7:09 left in the second.
The Wildcats went three-and-out and the Cardinals drove 68 yards in five plays, capped by Thomas’ 3-yard TD run. Khan hit the PAT for a 22-0 advantage with 3:24 left in the half.
El Dorado closed the half with an 80-yard drive. Plummer had four carries for 46 yards on the drive, including a 14-yard touchdown run with 1:07 left in the half. Henry booted the extra point.
The Wildcats got the ball to start the third but lost five yards, was flagged for holding, threw incomplete and was sacked on fourth down.
Fairview took over at the EHS 27 and settled for Khan’s 35-yard field goal with 8:19 left in the third.
The Cardinals recovered the ensuing onsides kick but Jordan Ford forced and recovered a fumble for El Dorado’s defense. Parker would hook up with Dunn on a 47-yard touchdown pass. Parker hit DeAndra Burns, Jr., for the 2-point conversion, cutting the margin to 25-15 with 5:25 left in the third.
But, El Dorado kicked off to Haygood, who returned the kickoff 56 yards to the Wildcats’ 33. Six plays later, Thomas scooted into the end zone from 10 yards out. Khan’s kick extended the lead to 32-15 with 3:02 left in the third.
The Wildcats tried to stay in the game and drove to the Fairview 2-yard line. But, after Plummer was dropped for a 3-yard loss, Parker threw a pair of incomplete passes into the end zone, including on fourth down.
The Cardinals then drove 94 yards on 15 plays. Thomas hit Haygood on a beautifully designed 12-yard wheel route for the score and final nail with 4:58 left in the game.
Plummer scored on a 17-yard run with 2:06 remaining for the final margin.
“Best crowd we’ve seen in a long, long time. I don’t know that we’ll get a bigger one,” said Vaughn. “Super thrilled for our kids and really happy with the way they played.”
The Wildcats will open league play at Marion next week.
“I know our team. I know our character. I know who we are and I know we’ll bounce back,” said Jones. “I know our kids are very resilient. We have to be. We start conference play next week. I hate it. Camden outplayed us tonight. On to Marion."