From Staff Reports
OAKLAND— Allegany opened up the arsenal Friday evening as five different players scored and the Campers built a 42-0 halftime lead in a win over Southern Friday in Oakland.
Southern began the evening fired up and had some nice plays early against the Campers, but Allegany would eventually outgain the Rams 318-104 in total offense.
Trevor Jessie came up with the first big play of the Campers season when he recovered a fumble when the Rams tried to convert on fourth down. It was almost disaster for Allegany when it fumbled on its first play, but the ball went out of bounds and the Campers kept control.
After a penalty seemed to show the Campers were suffering from some first-game nervousness, J.D. Hook eased the nerves of Allegany fans by breaking a tackle and sprinting 40 yards for the first touchdown.
Hook finished as Allegany’s leading rusher, getting 145 yards to go with two touchdowns on just four touches. The Campers would finish with 253 rushing yards.
Southern’s second drive ended with a blocked punt deep in their own territory, and Allegany almost took advantage when Demetreous Taylor found a wide open Steffen Bonnett in the end zone, but the play was nullified by a illegal procedure penalty.
Dustin Wharton took care of things just a few seconds later when he took in the second touchdown from nine yards out.
The Rams would go on to commit another turnover on a lost fumble, but the Campers would give it right back just 10 yards away from scoring for a third time.
Eventually it was Allegany again, when Wharton made his second trip to the end zone on a four-yard burst.
The Campers stretched the score to 35-0 when Taylor hit Scott Barber for 35 yards and another touchdown with just under five minutes left before halftime. Taylor was 4-of-5 passing for 65 yards.
Allegany would score one more time before halftime when Taylor scrambled in from 11 yards out to make it 42-0.
Wharton got a big return on the second half kickoff, and that converted into a two-yard touchdown for Melvin Tyson, which expanded the lead to 49-0.
Southern finally got a drive going midway through the fourth quarter, and capped it with Ryan Bennett scoring on a one-yard run for Southern’s only points.
The Campers will make their home debut on Friday when they host Grand Prairie (Canada) at 1 p.m. Southern will host Moorefield on Friday evening.
