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Cards finish strong By BARRY BURLESON
Editor  | Photo by Ronnie Day
Sack attack
Cardinals Jason Neal (left) and Demaris Edwards take down the Coldwater quarterback for a loss. |
Not
too many football teams play two games in a school week, much less win
them both. But that’s the way Potts Camp ended its successful season. The
junior varsity Cardinals beat Coldwater 14-0 on Monday night, Oct. 18,
and then routed Jumpertown 50-12 just three days later, Oct. 21. The Cardinals finished the season with a 6-2 mark. “I
guess you could say I’m surprised (with the record), in a sense, but I
knew the potential was there,” said coach Shane Stone, who is in charge
of building the new Potts Camp football program. “The kids responded
well. We have to build on what we’ve done this year. We can’t be
satisfied. We have to keep getting better.” Cardinals-Cougars Potts Camp used a “bend but not break” defense to blank Coldwater on the road. “The defense played well,” Coach Stone said. “We came up with the big play when we needed it.” The
first big play came on Coldwater’s first possession. The Cougars faked
a punt, but a host of Cardinals, led by Randy Love, stopped the
fourth-down try. The Potts Camp offense then
scored on its first play as Marcellous Johnson traveled 27 yards on a
reverse. A try-for-two failed. Later in the first
half, the Cardinals foiled another fake-punt try by the Cougars.
Corinthian Echols stopped the play short of the first down. Potts Camp carried a 6-0 lead to intermission. Jamarquis
Foster returned the second-half kickoff 45 yards deep into Coldwater
territory. A pass from Brantley Harris to Zack Mayer moved the ball to
the 1-yard line. But on second and goal, the Cardinals fumbled the ball
away. Defense again dominated the game in the second half. Potts
Camp managed to ice the win with about a minute to go in the game.
Foster scored on a 16-yard run. Javeon Allen cashed in the two-point
conversion. Foster finished with 89 yards rushing on eight carries. Top
tacklers for the Cards were Antonio Love with nine and Jeremy Honor
with eight. Demaris Edwards added six tackles and a sack. Cardinals-Cardinals Potts
Camp jumped all over Jumpertown in its season finale played at
Marietta. The Cardinals from Marshall County beat the Cardinals from
Prentiss County by 38 points. “One of the best
things about the game is that a lot of our younger boys got to play,”
Coach Stone said. “They got some quality minutes.” Potts Camp scored early and often. Honor ran 30 yards to the end zone to open the point production. Harris threw to Mayer for the two-point conversion. Jumpertown fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Marquis Johnson recovered. Foster
then had three touchdown runs for Potts Camp – two in the first quarter
and one in the second period. The carries were for 30, 29 and 59 yards.
Harris tossed to Mayer for a two-point conversion, and the other two
tries after touchdowns failed. The lead was 28-0 at halftime. Allen
lit up the scoreboard again for Potts Camp early in the third. He
crossed the goal-line from 28 yards out. The familiar Harris to Mayer
connection tacked on two more points. Jumpertown got its first points of the night to cut the margin to 36-6. Honor then returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. Marquis Johnson carried for the two.  | Photo by Ronnie Day
Foiling the fake
Randy Love of Potts Camp stops a fake-punt try by Coldwater. In pursuit is Jeremy Honor (17). |
In
the fourth, Jumpertown added another touchdown and was trying for more
points when Love picked off a pass on the game’s final play and
returned it 70 yards for the score. Foster ran for 138 yards on just five carries. Allen had 75 yards rushing. Jason Neal led the team in tackles with seven, four of those being for losses. Antonio Love and Honor had six tackles each. Next season Potts Camp will play its first varsity schedule. All players will return. Coach Stone said a decision will be made in the next few weeks whether to play an independent schedule or go into a district. Hopefully,
he said, the Cardinals’ new field on campus will be ready for the 2011
season. This year Potts Camp played every game on the road – with the
exception of a “home game” at Byhalia. “Progress is being made on the field, and we’re excited about that,” he said. Coach
Stone also thanked the Potts Camp community for its tremendous support
of the junior high and junior varsity Cardinals this season. “Keep it up,” he said. |
