Six weeks ago Camden County coach Jeff Herron said his team’s defense “couldn’t stop water pouring out of a bottle.” On Friday night that same defense put the clamps on a Mill Creek offense that was averaging 39.4 points and eliminated the defending Class 7A champion and No. 1-ranked Hawks 39-20 at Markham Field in Hoschton.
It was the third straight playoff win on the road for the unranked Wildcats, who advance to play No. 2 Walton in the semifinals. Camden County (10-3) is back in the semifinals for the first time since it won back-to-back state titles in 2008-09 in Herron’s first stint at the school.
“We’ve really improved defensively,” Herron said. “I’m proud of the way we played. I mean, we had to to beat a team like Mill Creek. They’re well-coached and very talented.”
The Camden defense came up with a pair of interceptions that proved instrumental. The first came from DeNigel Cooper and ended a Mill Creek drive near midfield. The second was by Mason Robinson at the Mill Creek 26 and set up a 14-yard touchdown pass from Parks Riendeau to Elyiss Williams – one of only two passes attempted and the only one completed by the sophomore quarterback, a catcher on the baseball team.
The Camden County defense also stopped Mill Creek from scoring a touchdown after getting it first-and-goal at the 4, forcing the Hawks to settle for a field goal. The Wildcats doused any hopes of a Mill Creek comeback when it picked up a safety with 8:26 remaining.
Mill Creek had trouble stopping Camden County’s wing-T offense, which features plenty of deception and misdirection. The Wildcats rushed 47 times for 371 yards. Jaden Dailey carried 15 times for 148 yards, Antonio Laws ran 15 times for 102 yards and three touchdowns, and Ja’Marley Riddle ran nine times for 77 yards.
“I don’t know what to say about it,” Herron said. “They like to play our style of football and it seems to be working. It’s not pretty, it’s not fun, but as long as it’s successful we’re OK with it.”
Camden scored on the opening kickoff, with Jordan Hardy breaking through for a 40-yard touchdown and the teams exchanged field goals, Mill Creek posing a 25-yarder from Brady Lane and Camden answering with a 41-yarder by Gabe Caison.
“That first drive was huge because we went through a stretch where we were behind in every game,” Herron said. “It really kind of ramped up everybody’s confidence.”
Mill Creek knotted the score on a 2-yard run by Cam Robinson, one play after a trick pass from Shane Throgmartin to Justin Content picked up 59 yards. But Camden got the score back on its next possession, scoring on a 2-yard run by Laws.
The Hawks took the second-half kickoff and took it to the 12 on Robinson’s 68-yard run on the opening play. Three plays later Robinson scored on a two-yard run to tie the game at 17-17.
Camden parlayed the interception into points to take the lead for good, then forced Mill Creek to settle for a 43-yard Caison field goal that cut the lead to 24-20. Camden then reeled off 15 straight points to put the game away, scoring on a 17-yard run by Laws, the safety and a 13-yard run by Laws.
Mill Creek (12-1) was led by Cam Robinson, who rushed 27 times for 169 yards and one touchdown. Throgmartin completed 12 of 23 passes for 165 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
Mill Creek coach Josh Lovelady said, “It was one of those things that we weren’t helping ourselves. It goes to Camden’s credit. They executed well. When you get the best in the state – and Camden is one of them obviously – you’ve got to make plays and you just come up a little short. We shouldn’t have put ourselves in that position or been in that situation.”
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