Eagles persevere over Pineville in first round of play-offs

The saying “survive and advance” fit Campbellsville High School’s football Eagles to a tee on Friday night as coach Jay Cobb’s squad posted a 28-12 victory over Pineville at Campbellsville University’s Finley Stadium.
Leading only 7-0 at the half on Zach Durham’s touchdown pass to Dra Thornton and Bradley Bates’ extra-point boot, Campbellsville (7-4) tallied a pair of defensive scores in a 15-second stretch to add the exclamation point to their post-season triumph.
Alex Brunelle picked up a Mountain Lion fumble and raced 50 yards to pay dirt midway through the third quarter.
After the CHS kick-off, Thornton picked off a deflected Pineville pass and broke a pair of tackles to tally from 20 yards out. Bates’ PAT made it 20-0.
Pineville (4-7) used a defensive score of its own to cut the deficit to 20-7 on a 20-yard fumble return late in the frame.
Brunelle finished his 14-point night by catching a 23-yard touchdown from Josh Hicks and the subsequent two-point conversion.
The Mountain Lions tallied their final touchdown with 33 ticks left on the HIG Field clock.
The Eagles’ road gets much tougher as Campbellsville will travel to Hazard (8-2) on Friday for second-round play-off play.
The Bulldogs, who have lost to undefeated Breathitt County (11-0) and Somerset (7-4), bested Campbellsville in the region finals in 2007 on Daniel Field.

Dennis George

Alex Brunelle (9) gets a personal escort down the left sideline from Cameron Hughes (21), Eric Lamer (3) and Josh Roe (11) for his fumble recovery and 50-yard return for a touchdown during Campbellsville’s 28-12 play-off victory over Pineville on Friday at Campbellsville University.

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Bobby Brockman

Josh Roe (11) heads downfield after an interception for Campbellsville vs. Pineville.

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Bobby Brockman

Donnell Smith (23) plays off a block for one of his nine tackles on Friday night.

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Bobby Brockman

Dra Thornton (4), who had a pass reception for a touchdown and an interception for a score, gets ready to sack the quarterback in Campbellsville's 28-12 play-off triumph.

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CHS Eagles 28, Pineville 12
At Campbellsville U.
PHS    0    0    6    6    —    12
CHS    7    0    13    8    —    28
CHS — Dra Thornton, 19, pass from Zach Durham (Bradley Bates kick)
CHS — Alex Brunelle, 50, fumble return (kick failed)
CHS — Thornton, 20, interception return (Bates kick)
PHS — No. 7, 20, fumble return (run failed)
CHS — Brunelle, 23, pass from Josh Hicks (Brunelle run)
PHS — Conner Ford, 19, pass from Jamie Roan (pass failed)

    PHS    CHS
First downs    11    12
Rushing    42-98    27-80
Passing    10-25-2    11-20-1
Passing yards    88    199
Total yards    186    279
Fumbles lost    1    2
Penalties    2-24    5-25
Punts-avg    5-36    5-23

CHS individual statistics
Rushing — Josh Roe 6-28, Josh Hicks 4-26, Dra Thornton 10-22, Zach Durham 4-4, Hayden Webb 3-0.
Passing — Durham 8-17-1 for 151, Hicks 3-3-0 for 48.
Receiving — Brunelle 4-83, Thornton 3-65, Tyler Carson 3-36, Roe 1-15.

Total tackles (solos) — Michael Beard 18 (7), Roe 15 (6), Nicky Lamer 12 (7), Kyle Novak 9 (3), Donnell Smith 9, Eric Lamer 7 (1), Thornton 6 (2), Brunelle 4 (1), Cameron Hughes 4 (2), Carson 3 (1), Webb 2, Grant Adams 2, Michael Rafferty 1, Hicks 1.
Interceptions — Roe and Thornton.
Fumble recovery — Brunelle.