Valparaiso’s defense gave up a
season-low 17 points, but the offense could not find the end zone on Saturday
afternoon as the Crusaders fell 17-3 to Campbell
at Brown Field.
Andrzej Skiba’s
(Homewood, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor H.S.) 20-yard field
goal with 8:16 remaining in the game accounted for the Crusaders’ lone points
on the afternoon.
“We struggled to move the
football again today,” head coach Stacy
Adams said. “Their offense was their
best defense, limiting us to just 22 plays in the first half.”
Campbell jumped on top on the game’s opening possession,
moving 82 yards in seven plays for a touchdown and C.J. Oates ran the ball in
from four yards out.
Adam Willets added to the
lead with 13:30 to play before halftime with a 20-yard field goal to make it
10-0 Fighting Camels.
Kyle Himmelwright (Coplay, Pa./Whitehall H.S.) returned
the ensuing kickoff to the Campbell
49 and the Crusaders drove down to the 23 before an interception ended the
scoring threat.
The visitors capitalized on
the miscue, scoring on a two-yard run by Carl Smith to make it 17-0 Campbell at the break.
Valpo’s defense stiffened in
the second half, not allowing any more points on the scoreboard, but the
Crusader offense could not find the end zone.
The lone scoring drive saw Valpo march down to the one before being
pushed back and having to settle for a field goal.
“I was really pleased with
the way the defense played in the second half,” Adams
added. “They came out and pitched a
shutout.”
Campbell (3-7, 2-5 PFL) held
Valpo to just 160 total yards on the afternoon, including just 65 through the
air. The Fighting Camels tallied 450
yards of offense, including 282 on the ground.
Allante Simmons (Southfield,
Mich./Southfield-Lathrup H.S.)
led Valpo with 11 carries for 38 yards while Isaac Wildermuth (Sidney, Ohio/Upper Arlington H.S.) added eight
carries for 37 yards.
Nate Goergen (Golden, Colo./Golden
H.S.) completed 9-of-17 passes for 65 yards, four going to Simmons.
Daniel Polk rushed for 105
yards for Campbell
while completing 10-of-17 passes for 168 yards.
Defensively, JaVon Welch (Grand
Rapids, Mich./Ottawa
Hills H.S.) led the Crusaders with 12 tackles while Eli Crawford (Bogart, Ga./North Oconee
H.S.) and Anthony Curry (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville
H.S.) each had an interception.
Valparaiso (1-9, 0-7) will
wrap up the 2009 season next Saturday on Senior Day, hosting Morehead State. Kickoff is slated for noon.
Game Notes: The
all-time series is tied 1-1 … Curry now has three interceptions in the last two
games … Crawford’s pick was his team-leading fourth of the season … fifth-year
senior Zac Griffin (Apple Valley,
Calif./Granite Hills H.S.)
registered his first sack of the season … Skiba is a perfect 3-for-3 in his
career in field goal tries.