BLACKSVILLE, W.Va. — The last time Cameron played a football game before Thursday’s season opener at Clay-Battelle, the Dragons were eliminated by the Cee-Bees on the very field they’d start their 2026 campaign in a Class A semifinal.
Much of the personnel on both sides has since changed, but the Dragons spent a good portion of their offseason hoping to exact a measure of revenge at CBHS.
By dominating both lines of scrimmage and taking complete control of the contest in the second quarter, the No. 4 Dragons did exactly that, cruising to a 42-0 victory over the No. 3 Cee-Bees in the WVSSAC Kickoff Game.
“We were very focused on this one, just like they’re usually focused with us,” Cameron coach Tim Brown said. “When you’re in Single-A ball, sometimes their Jimmys and Joes are a little better than yours, and sometimes yours are a little better than theirs. You get injuries like we had last year then it changes things, and they had a few injuries this year that kind of derailed what they were trying to do. You’re going to see them get better and better because that’s kind of their forte. I think we’re going to do the same if we can stay healthy.”
Following an exchange of punts to start, CHS struck first, covering 39 yards on six plays and scoring on Soier Reed’s 7-yard touchdown run at the 5:25 mark of the first quarter. The first of six point-after kicks from Talen Brown allowed the visitors to lead 7-0.
Although Clay-Battelle’s Cody Clovis intercepted Reed on Cameron’s third series, the Dragons’ defense followed by forcing a third straight three-and-out to prevent the home team from garnering momentum.
When Clay-Battelle went to punt for a fourth time, a mishandled snap allowed the Dragons to take over at the Clay-Battelle 31, and Cameron capitalized on the field position by doubling its lead via Reed’s 5-yard TD run 3:53 before halftime.
“At first, they were blitzing a little bit and we had a little bit of a hard time getting our communication together and seeing exactly what they were doing,” Brown said. “So we kind of stalled there and kind of stalled ourselves a couple times, too, because we got in the wrong formation, fumbled some snaps around. But once we got that stuff out of the way, the offensive line got really aggressive and started taking it to them a little bit.”
On the third play from scrimmage of the ensuing Clay-Battelle series, Aikn Davis intercepted Gavin McLaughlin, allowing the Dragons to take over at the Cee-Bees’ 41.
One play later, the visitors upped their advantage to 21 when Reed lofted a 41-yard TD pass to Brown.
“Early on, it was a good game, and it was a one-score game for a long time,” Clay-Battelle coach Aaron LaPoe said. “There were some missed tackles on fourth down and Cameron is like sharks and when they smell blood in the water, they pounce on it. That happened to us. I have a young group.”
Cameron was strong on special teams throughout and added a fourth touchdown late in the half on Reed’s 46-yard punt return to make it 28-0 at the intermission.
Through two quarters, the Cee-Bees had 2 yards of offense on 24 plays, with eight of their 14 rushing attempts for negative yardage.
“Defensively, we just did a really good job,” Brown said. “We did a lot of preparation. The kids come at lunch to the coaches room and talk, so they are very prepared on that defense and the guys move around and communicate very well. Kudos to my offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator for getting these kids prepared.”
Any thought of a second-half rally was quickly put to rest in the third quarter when Daman Coen’s pass was intercepted by Marshall Holland.
That turnover directly led to the Dragons’ fifth touchdown — Holland’s 4-yard run with 6:45 left in the third quarter.
Cameron capped the scoring later in the third on Holland’s 9-yard TD run.
The Dragons rushed for 214 yards, including 71 from Holland, 40 from Brown and 35 from Reed.
Brown also had a pair of receptions for 43 yards.
Clay-Battelle was limited to 26 total yards and five first downs.
“You’re supposed to only have a handful of off-schedule plays in a game,” LaPoe said, “and we were off schedule the whole time.”