In a tough season that has seen it lose by 40 points or more five times, the Camp Verde football team finally got to feel what it was like to be on the other side of a lopsided score.
The Cowboys defeated the Greyhills Academy Fightin’ Knights 45-0 at Sam Hammerstrom Field on Friday, Oct. 25, in Camp Verde, but the score could have been even more lopsided if not for the class shown by the Cowboys and head coach Steve Darby.
Camp Verde led 45-0 at halftime, but Darby employed a variety of tactics to ensure that his team didn’t run up the score in the second half, including running out of bounds on the 1-yard line, attempting field goals on first down, and playing every player on his bench, including several freshmen.
The Cowboys actually started to ease up on the Fightin’ Knights after gaining a 42-0 lead early in the second quarter, attempting only field goals for the rest of the game.
“We were not going to score another touchdown,” Darby said. “Our kids knew not to do that, so every time we got inside their 20 we were going to kick a field goal, or attempt to kick a field goal.
“There’s no reason to score 70 or 80 points on a team like some of these teams do. That’s not classy and that’s not honorable, we’re not going to do that.”
“They’ve got good kids on their team, they’re dealing with a lot of injuries and some academic problems,” he said. And we’ve been there and we understand that, and it was just a good opportunity for our young guys to play.”
One of the “young guys” who did well, junior Jace Terry, ran the game’s opening kickoff back 70 yards for a touchdown.
“Jace is a real talented athlete, very fast, deceivingly fast,” Darby said.
Another young player, freshman Thomas Herrera, came up big in the fourth quarter when he caught a speedy Greyhills receiver from behind, saving a touchdown, and then intercepted a pass on the next play.
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Oct. 30, issue of the Camp Verde Journal.
