Dakota Campbell will do whatever it takes to win and against an undefeated opponent Thursday night in Enola he proved that.
Campbell contributed in all facets of the game and the Panthers upended Greencastle-Antrim 30-13 to pick up their first win in the Mid-Penn Colonial.
The 5-11, 180-pound senior is listed as a QB/RB/LB/K/P on the roster; he finished with a rushing touchdown, field goal, three PATs, a reception, three punts (that averaged 47 yards and all fell within the 20), and led the team in tackles (8 total, 1.5 for loss).
“Whatever the coach tells me,” Campbell said of his favorite position to play. “I love kicking but if I can help on offense and defense, I always do it. Just whatever the coaches tell me to do. I’m going to do what needs to be done.”
Thursday, with sporadic horizontal rainfall coming down and a chilly autumn night making itself welcome, grit and effort needed to be done.
It started with Campbell’s 38-yard field goal with 9:09 left in the first quarter to give the Panthers (1-1, 4-1) a 3-0 lead after Greencastle-Antrim’s first drive ended after a Tavon Cooper fumble.
The Blue Devils (1-1, 4-1) responded nicely with an 80-yard drive, 43 of which came on the ground from Cooper, that ended with a 1-yard plunge from quarterback Logan Alvey to make it 7-3 with 6:12 left.
Then Aaron Angelo took the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for the score and it was 10-7 Panthers with 5:58 left in the first.
East Pennsboro’s defense forced a punt on the next drive and took over at the Blue Devils’ 34. Quarterback Keith Oates ran 33 yards and then plunged in from the 1 on the next play to make it 16-7 with 3:28 left in the first.
The Panthers’ defense forced another punt. A 50-yard run by Angelo put them on the 13. Campbell finished the drive with a 5-yard TD run to make it 23-7 with 14 seconds left, still in the first quarter, which practically sealed the game.
No team scored in the second or third quarters.
Oates tacked on another rushing TD, this time from 18 yards, with 6:23 left in the game.
Logan Alvey hits Seth Stouffer for a 35-yard TD pass to make it 30-13 with 5:07 left.
Alvey finished with 147 passing yards and Stouffer with 66 receiving yards. Austin Wyand had 61 receiving yards.
Angelo finished with 109, Oates with 66, and Campbell with 53 rushing yards for the Panthers. Angelo also had a sack.
It’s a morale-building win for the Panthers, who felt they didn’t come to play in a 27-11 loss last week to division foe Gettysburg.
“We knew [the Blue Devils] were about as good as last week’s team, Gettysburg,” Campbell said. “Last week we came in a little flat and just didn’t really play well overall. We just kind of focused on execution and on defense, everybody filling in their gaps and knowing their job.”
After Greencastle-Antrim’s stud running back Cooper had 43 yards on the Blue Devils’ second drive, he only had 62 the rest of the way. The Panther defense also forced him into three lost fumbles. Cooper finished with 105 rushing yards, but only on 4.6 yards per carry. Cooper had been averaging 126 YPG and 8.4 YPC.
As much as the Panthers took it to the Blue Devils, the G-A side also shot itself in the foot. Its total reached four turnovers as East Pennsboro also picked off a pass and also had nine penalties for 80 yards.
Campbell and the Panthers didn’t look too much into beating an undefeated team.
“Each week and each game it’s a 0-0 record,” he said. “We don’t really look at the numbers and what they’re predicting. We just watch the film and know what we need to do to get the win.”
At the halfway point of the high school football season, an undefeated record may not be a telling sign of things to come. But a win over such a team could be a morale builder for a team coming off a loss and a catalyst for a good finish to end the season.
The East Penn coaches talked about finishing strong in the last half of the season as the Panthers have gone 1-3 in their final four games the past three seasons.
Campbell, who picked up a Division II offer from West Virginia Wesleyan back in August, hopes to lead the team to a more prosperous finish and also wants to get his own exposure.
“Just get as much attention as possible while helping the team as much as possible,” Campbell said. “Ultimately it’s not about me, it’s just about the team.”
East Pennsboro heads to Mechanicsburg next Friday; Greencastle-Antrim heads to Northern York.
STATS:
East Pennsboro
Passing: Oates 2-5-2–27.
Rushing: Angelo 14-109, Oates 6-66 (2 TDs), Campbell 14-53 (TD), Sanderson 3-13, Holmes 4-6, Team 1-0, Gossard 2-0.
Receiving: Campbell 1-22, Swope 1-5.
Penalty: 6-65.
Punt-avg: 3-47.
First downs: 15.
Fumbles-lost: 0-0.
Greencastle-Antrim
Passing: Alvey 16-21-1–147 (TD).
Rushing: Cooper 23-105, Wyand 6-8, Shifflett 2-5, Brookens 1-3, Kline 2-3, Alvey 4-(-12).
Receiving: Stouffer 4-66 (TD), Wyand 8-61, Wright 1-9, Cooper 1-5, Ebay 1-5, Kline 1-1.
Penalties: 9-80.
Punt-avg: 5-40.8
First downs: 16.
Fumbles-lost: 4-3.
Scoring Summary
East Pennsboro (1-1, 4-1) 23 0 0 7 – 30
Greencastle-Antrim (1-1, 4-1) 7 0 0 6 – 13
1st Quarter
EP-Campbell 38 FG – 9:09
GA-Alvey 1 run (Eby kick) – 6:12
EP-Angelo 85 kick return (Campbell kick) – 5:58
EP-Oates 1 run (Campbell kick failed) – 3:28
EP- Campbell 5 run (Campbell kick) – 0:14
4th Quarter
EP-Oates 18 run (Campbell kick) – 6:23
GA-Stouffer 35 pass from Alvey (Alvey pass to Cooper failed) – 5:07
