BUIES CREEK, N.C. – De’Shawn Jones scored on a 25-yard run on Campbell’s first play in overtime to lift the Camels to a 33-27 win over Butler Saturday night at Barker-Lane Stadium.
In front of the largest crowd (6,610) in Barker-Lane Stadium history, Jones burst off tackle then broke free down the left sideline for the winning points in the first home overtime contest in Fighting Camel history.
In the Pioneer Football League opener for both schools, Campbell (3-1, 1-0) held the Bulldogs on the first possession of overtime to set up the winning play. A holding penalty pushed Butler back to the 32-yard line; then Syd Holt’s QB hurry left the Bulldogs with 4th-down and 17 yards. Instead of attempting a 50-yard field goal, Butler went for it on fourth down and Dante Simmons’ broke up Malcolm Weaver’s pass attempt.
Jones finished with 174 rushing yards on 23 carries, an average of 7.6 yards per attempt. The senior running back owns the top three rushing games in Campbell’s Division I era (since 2008), including a 201-yard performance last year at Davidson and a 189-performance at home vs. Pikeville.
On Saturday, Jones had four runs of 22 or more yards and scored two times. Jared Joyner added 41 yards on the ground and two scores. Elijah Burress completed 16-of-28 passes for 146 yards. Aaron Blockmon led the Camels with five receptions.
Weaver completed 14-of-37 passes for 194 yards and caught a nine-yard scoring pass to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, while Duvante Lane ran for 75 yards on 17 carries for Butler (2-2, 0-1). Pace Temple finished with six catches for 128 yards.
Daniel Bostick led Campbell with eight tackles, while Ethan Brunhofer made 10 stops for Butler.
Campbell jumped to a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter. Greg Cunningham’s interception gave the Camels a first down at the Butler 47. De’Shawn Jones’ 8-yard run capped a 6-play drive over 2:21 to put the Camels on the board. Jones’ 25-yard gain on 3rd and 10 gave the Camels a first down on the Bulldog 22. Jones’ TD on the opening play of the second quarter was his sixth of the year.
Mitchell Brown extended the lead to 10-0 on a 30-yard field goal with 10:50 left in the second.
The Bulldogs drove 70 yards on five plays – 29 yards coming on a Malcolm Weaver to Pace Temple completion – and cut the gap to 10-7 on Duvante Lane’s four-yard run with 8:05 left in the half.
Butler attempted an onside kick on the ensuing kick-off, but Bryan Bailey recovered at midfield for the Camels. Eight plays later, Joyner’s 1-yard run and Brown’s PAT pushed the margin back to 10. Jones’ 22-yard burst keyed the drive and set up the Camels with first and goal on the Butler 8.
The Bulldogs drove to the Campbell 19, before Drew Bevelhimer’s 36-yard field goal trimmed the gap to 17-10 with 1:16 left in the second quarter.
CU took over and drove into Butler territory to set up a field goal attempt on the final play of the half. Brown’s 49-yarder – the longest in Campbell’s Division I era – gave the Camels a 20-10 lead at the break.
Helped along by a personal foul penalty that negated a third down stop at midfield, Butler marched 80 yards in nine plays and pulled within 20-17 on Weaver’s 11-yard QB keeper with 50 seconds to play in the third quarter.
Burress fumbled on the first play of the next possession and Sean Horan recovered to give the Bulldogs a 1st down at the Campbell 29. Butler drove to the Camel five yard line before CU held and Bevelhimer’s 22-yard field goal tied the game at 20 with 13:39 to play.
The Camels drove 65 yards on seven plays to take a 27-20 lead on Joyner’s 3-yard run with 11:12 left in the game. Jones reeled off a 30-yard burst down the left side and Joyner had a 17-yard run up the middle to set up the scoring run.
Set up by a short punt, Butler drove 44 yards to tie the game at 27-all with 4:10 to go. On fourth-and-goal from the three yard line, Lane found Weaver in the right side of the end zone on a halfback-to-quarterback pass. Bevelhimer’s PAT tied the game at 27-27.
Bevelheimer slipped on a 50-yard field goal attempt on the game’s last play and the kick fell well short of the end zone.
Campbell plays next Saturday at Marist (1:00 p.m.), while Butler hosts San Diego (1:00).
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