Dragons edge Fighting Irish 34-33

Despite having many of Friday’s starters only available for one day of workouts due to COVID-19 quarantine, the Cameron Dragons edged Midland Empire Conference foe Lafayette 34-33 Friday night.

A kickoff-return touchdown by junior receiver Ty Speer, followed by a game sealing interception by senior linebacker Javier Morones with less than 2 minutes left in regulation lifted the Dragons to their second MEC victory and their first defeat of Lafayette since 2013.

“I wasn’t about to lose another homecoming to Lafayette. It wasn’t going to happen,” said junior receiver Ty Speer, whose also had a punt return for a touchdown and a rushing TD Friday. “… We didn’t beat ourselves before we started the game. We came into this game knowing it was going to be a dogfight. We gave it 100 percent and we came out on top.”

After Speer’s TD, Cameron needed one last stop against Lafayette’s offense, which had been deadly through the air until that point with much of their yardage coming off quick-strikes for long gains. Instead of blitzing multiple linebackers to limit Lafayette quarterback Jaron Saunders’ time in the pocket, the Dragons dropped a few back in coverage - allowing Morones’ game-saving interception and improving Cameron’s record to 4-3 overall and 2-3 in MEC play. Although happy to make the play, Morones said he could not take all of the credit.

“Everyone else was covering good so there was no other option. The line rushed the quarterback and he had to throw it,” Morones said. “I caught it and just started running. Me and [Ian Riley, senior cornerback] were both there so if it wasn’t me, he would have got it. [Saunders] was doing pretty good. We just had to get in a blitz and get him to throw it up.”

READ MORE IN NEXT WEEK’S EDITION OF THE CAMERON CITIZEN-OBSERVER, ON STORE SHELVES THURSDAY.