Red zone defense, Campbell touchdown catches, lead South Harrison to upset win at Trenton

The South Harrison Bulldogs played the “bend but don’t break” method of defense perfectly on Friday night, with two touchdown strikes to Treyton Campbell providing the necessary offense, in a 14-8 win at C.F. Russell Stadium against the Trenton Bulldogs, in a varsity football contest broadcast Friday night on Hot Country Z 101.7.

Trenton opened the scoring with 4:59 to go in the first quarter, on an eight-yard strike between seniors Lathan Croy and Colton Colston.  Tom Johnson had the play-by-play call:

A two-point conversion run by Hunter Dugan gave the home team an 8-0 lead after one quarter.  Trenton generally kept the on-field advantage through the early stages of the second quarter, when the visitors from Bethany began to move the football.  With 8 1/2 minutes left in the first half, South Harrison tied a trick play to get on the scoreboard:

A two-point conversion was successfully completed by Jacob Starmer, tying the game at 8 going to the locker room.

On a 29-yard slant pattern to C.F. Russell Stadium’s east goal line, South Harrison took the lead for good with 30.2 seconds remaining in the third quarter, as quarterback Cody Weller connected with Campbell for the game’s winning points.  The two point conversion attempt failed.

Trenton had numerous opportunities to move the football and score points in the second half, but time after time, the Bulldogs would successfully move the ball down the field, mostly using a strong run game, only to have drives stall and fail inside the South Harrison 20 yard line.  Trenton turned over the football twice in the game, once by interception in the second quarter, and once by fumble midway through the third quarter.

The win for South Harrison’s Bulldogs was huge for the confidence level in an improved team making strides under first-year Head Coach Chris Schoning in the Grand River Conference:

Friday night’s result likely ends hopes for Trenton to repeat as Grand River Conference champions, as the Bulldogs sit at 2-2 in GRC play, and 2-4 overall, records matched by South Harrison after Friday night’s road win.  This week, Trenton celebrates its Homecoming Week, welcoming the Polo Panthers (5-1, 3-1) to C.F. Russell Stadium (Hot Country Z 101.7), while South Harrison will take on the Milan Wildcats, with the “Purple Gang” looking to jump above .500 in GRC play, just one year removed from an 0-10 season.