MCKENZIE, Tenn. — The Tigers came prepared for a defensive battle against the #25 Bethel Wildcats Saturday afternoon. Despite scoring all their points in a two-minute window in the second quarter, Campbellsville held off Bethel for the 14-10 win.
A testament to each teams' oppressive defenses, the two teams permitted just 39 total yards from scrimmage in the opening quarter. There were six sacks in the opening 15 minutes, four for the Tigers (two for
Jayden Cray and one each for
Jae Arnold and
Terry Brown) and two for the Wildcats. Bethel did muster a 6:25 drive in the winding minutes of the half, but only for 31 yards after 14-yard combined losses from two more sacks by Keeland Lamar and Quinton Tanksley.
The longest play from scrimmage was a 15-yard first-quarter catch by the Wildcats until
Jagger Gillis' 46-yard touchdown pass to
Tre' Bass with 1:52 left in the first half. With Bethel pressing trying to equalize before the break, the Tigers capitalized on their defensive stand and pressured the Wildcats into a muffed punt for great field position. Campbellsville made the most of their advantageous starting spot, connecting on two straight passes for the Gillis to
Luke Sheperson score.
On Bethel's next drive, the Tigers'
Jeremiah Pauling forced a fumble on the kickoff that was recovered at the Wildcats' 35 by
Christian Davis. Although Campbellsville couldn't ultimately capitalize on the opportunity for a third score before the horn, they did manage to force another turnover when their defense took over as
Myles Butler pulled down his second interception of the season.
Despite being up 14-0 at halftime, the Tigers hadn't converted on any of their six third-down attempts nor their sole fourth-down try.
Receiving the second-half kickoff, Campbellsville had an unsuccessful ten-play possession before Bethel marched down the field with a ten-play, near six-minute scoring drive, all rushes. With time ticking down,
Colin Fratus tried a long 51-yarder that missed to keep the Tigers up a touchdown heading into the deciding minutes.
The Wildcats' offense went down the field and put up a 37-yard field goal to make the score 14-10 in Campbellsville's favor. Again, that entire drive saw various Bethel rushers pound the ground. Following a Tiger three-and-out, the clamping Campbellsville defense allowed just one first down on the next Wildcat possession. After being forced into another three-and-done for the offense, the Tiger defense stepped up when
Malachi Moten collected a sack. At that point, Campbellsville sought to run out the clock. A clutch, tiptoe first down catch by
Patrick Oden with the Wildcat defender all over him allowed just that as the Tigers were victorious, 14-10.
- Six different Tigers recorded sacks in the contest and their six first-half sacks were a season-high.
- At the half, Campbellsville had only allowed 73 total yards from the Bethel offense (season-high), with just 12 coming through the air for the Wildcats on one pass completion (another season-high).
- The Tigers had lost six straight to the Wildcats, stretching back to 2018. Their last win was in McKenzie in overtime in 2017. Coach Hunter Brown had 347 passing yards and two touchdowns in that contest.
