Camden County found the endzone first in Game 4 of the Metro PCS Corky Kell Classic, but after Antonio Wimbush’s 37-yard touchdown run, there was little left for the Wildcats to cheer for. The Bulldogs answered the early Camden lead with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Hayden Sphire to a slanting Nate Brown, and continued to pile on points with an array of weapons. North Gwinnett earned a 34-14 win.
Running back C.J. Leggett gave North Gwinnett the 14-7 lead by bulldozing into the endzone from seven yards out on a designed direct-snap trick play. The senior running back left the game in the 3rd quarter after cramping, but managed to tally 140 yards off 23 carries and the score prior to being sidelined.
Brown finished with a game-high two touchdowns, four receptions and 74 receiving yards. Daniel Imatorbhebhe, Caleb Scott and Jaye Stackhouse each added three receptions in the game. North Gwinnett coach Bob Sphire is aware of the favorable matchups that his deep and talented receiving corps is creating for his offense.
“We can go 2 by 2 (formations) and have (two receiving) threats on both sides,” said Sphire. “You’ve got inside receivers, you can close them as tight ends and you can open them up because they are athletic enough to be in the slot. That’s kind of unique. We haven’t had that for the last few years to be able to be this multiple, formation wise.”
While North Gwinnett attacked Camden’s defense from all directions, the Wildcats struggled finding a rhythm in its run-first playbook against first-year coordinator Robert Andrew’s unit. The Wildcats finished the game with 247 yards rushing, but were 1-for-6 passing for one total yard. Dante Sawyer had eight tackles including two tackles for a loss, and disrupted the line of scrimmage. Avery Elford and Bobby Young were also run-stoppers and each recorded seven tackles.
Offensively, it was North Gwinnett’s young linemen who were able to win at the point of attack.
“I was very pleased in an opening game to have continuity on the offensive line that we did,” said Sphire. “I thought they were very physical at how they played tonight. “
North Gwinnett had 22 first downs compared to Camden County’s nine. The Wildcats’ second touchdown was on Harrison Poole’s 60-yard run in the 2nd quarter. Poole had a solid game for the Wildcats with 12 carries for 136 yards.
Camden County head coach Welton Coffey will have six days to regroup before facing Baker County (Fla.) on Aug. 30. Coffey stepped in for former Camden County head coach Jeff Herron this offseason and will have to address the 11 penalties (113 yards) his team committed against the Bulldogs.
Sphire is hoping to continue finding the same level of success moving forward that his team struck in the 2013 season opener.
“Tonight I was real pleased with our kicking game, our defense was really sound and flew to the football and our offensive line played well as a group,” said Sphire. “When you’ve got all three of those things going on you have a chance to have a really good game. These guys [Our team] were chomping at the bit to play a real opponent and in a real game that really mattered and through all the phases that we had in place to prepare for this season, they were flat out ready to play.”
North Gwinnett’s next challenge will be at Grayson on Aug. 30.
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