CAMERON, W.Va. — Eighth-year head coach Tim Brown has guided Cameron High School to six playoff appearances and the Dragons have won seven postseason games in the last four years. After advancing to the Class A final in 2024, Cameron played their way to the semifinal round last fall. While welcoming in a large freshman class in 2026, Brown says development through the feeder programs has proved essential as the Dragons hope for sustained success.
“Our peewee programs, there’s a lot of the guys with Coach Rogers from the past, that I have coached in the past, they are coaching our peewee programs now. They are learning good technique,” Brown said. “They are learning how to work hard. When they come up to our middle school, they have done a great job of getting our offensive and defensive schemes in their head. So they come to us as a freshman and a lot of them are ready to play that freshman year.”
Several starters for the Dragons will return to the lineup this year after enduring significant injuries a year ago. The list includes the likes of Talen Brown, Griffen Miller, Cale Winters and Gary Bonar.
“They got a taste of what we all know as adults, that’s a great time in your life and you don’t want to miss any of that. They missed a little bit of it. They felt that pain. So they are ready to get back and give everything they’ve got.”
“We made a very good run. I was very happy with the team,” said Cameron junior RB/DB Talen Brown. “Obviously, I didn’t get to play [in the playoffs]. But I was very happy with my team. They were just obviously coming together. The younger guys were coming in and stepping up as a team. They did very well.”
“It was truly heartbreaking. When you are down that many guys, it is just next man up,” said Cameron senior RB/LB Marshall Holland. “The guys that came in and filled those spots, they did the best they could with as little experience as they had. Those guys are going to be the same kids on the field this year.”
For the second year in a row, Cameron will break in a new starting quarterback. Senior Soier Reed was Cameron’s leading receiver a year ago, but he is now in the mix to engineer the Dragon offense.
“Soier Reed has just been a leader in all sports here, and in the classroom,” Tim Brown said. “I think he’s got the advantage just because we trust his experience. We trust his intelligence. But we have a very, very capable backup in Austin Miller, that is a sophomore. So he is going to be able to learn a little bit. You’ll probably hear his name a lot the next couple years.”
Marshall Holland returns to the Cameron backfield after a junior season where he rushed for 1,762 yards with 21 total touchdowns.
“He means a lot. If we need tough yards, he’s our guy,” Reed said. “He has always been there for us. I think he’s going to have a big season this year.”
“He has trimmed down a little bit and he’s gotten a little bit faster and a little bit quicker,” Tim Brown said. “He’s a really good receiver. I would be fine with going empty backfield if I had to because he can catch the ball.”
The Dragons will have a chance to avenge their state semifinal loss at Clay-Battelle in Week 1 in the WVSSAC Kickoff Classic, which will be broadcast on MetroNews. Cameron will also face Tucker County, East Hardy and Pendleton County. All of those squads advanced to at least the quarterfinal round in 2025.
“If you want to consistently get to the playoffs and then get to that game that you want to be at at the end of the year, you have to play good competition,” Tim Brown said. “You have to challenge yourself. If think we have done that with our schedule in the past. This year might be our toughest schedule.”