Gretna humbled by William Campbell

NARUNA — Gretna’s Ted Jennings went up to catch a Jayme Barksdale pass late in the third quarter. The ball hit off Jennings’ chest and bounced in the air. Three William Campbell defenders tipped it, trying to haul it in while Jennings did his best to play defense.

The third bounce landed in the hands of Generals defensive back Terrance Younger, giving William Campbell good field position again in the second half, which was the common trend for the Generals.

After trailing by 18 points early in the second quarter, William Campbell stormed back, intercepting five Barksdale passes and paralyzing the Gretna Hawks’ offense in a 34-18 Dogwood District victory on Friday night.

Gretna (6-1, 2-1) jumped out early, scoring the very first time it touched the ball on a 92-yard kickoff return by Andre Dickerson. The Hawks continued to play with fire, playing inspired defense, which included intercepting William Campbell quarterback Baron Adams on the next series and then immediately punching it in for a touchdown.

“Obviously going up 18-0, you got all the momentum,” Gretna coach Chris Thurman said. “They were able to get some momentum back on their side and scored 34 unanswered.”

The momentum Thurman referred to is a William Campbell touchdown scored with just under two minutes left in the second quarter off a botched Hawks punt that gave the Generals a short field. Adams jetted up the middle for the score and William Campbell right back in the ballgame.

“We scored one right before the half and I thought that gave us some confidence,” William Campbell coach Brad Bradley said. “You never saw the panic. These kids stuck together, they knew they could win this game. We knew were a better football team on the field.”

Those 34 unanswered points included the Generals (7-1, 4-0) defense holding Gretna without a first down in the second half until 10 minutes remained in the fourth quarter. By then, William Campbell had already taken the lead for good at 20-18 and topped it off with the fifth interception and two sacks, one of which ended a drive for Gretna that may have given the Hawks a chance to score.

Adams accounted for five touchdowns to make up for his three interceptions. The Generals quarterback ran for four and threw for his fifth.

“We really weren’t able to do much with them up front. Their defensive front, like we though coming in, was pretty damn good,” Thurman said. “(We) really couldn’t move the ball on the ground. Turnovers hurt us. They’re a good football team.”

Barksdale nearly tripled his interception total of the year with the five he threw Friday night. One of those preceded the game-sealing touchdown by Adams on a QB run that made the score 27-18. Younger, whose interception set up that score, had three picks.

Gretna’s senior quarterback finished with 162 yards on 8-of-27 passing, but was never able to get into a rhythm and that ultimately cost the Hawks. He was able to score two rushing touchdowns and finished with 59 yards on 19 carries.

Kevin Dale kept the Hawks close, intercepting all three of William Campbell’s picks, including one at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

The Hawks were held to a season-low 229 yards of offense, 67 of those coming on the ground, including the Hawks gaining minus-6 yards rushing in the second half.

“It was really two games. We came out and grabbed the momentum and they got the momentum back and never gave it up,” Thurman said.