Dragons throttle Screaming Eagles 51-22 for postseason victory

The Cameron Dragons evened their record at 5-5 after throttling Central Academy of Excellence 51-22 and will next face Savannah for round two of the Missouri State High School Athletic Association playoffs.

 The Cameron became the CHS team since 2013 to win a postseason game, which came off a four-turnover performance by the Dragons’ defense while running back Dom Hurst carried to offense for much of the game - breaking the 1,000-yard-rushing milestone with his 140-yard, two TD performance Friday night.

“It was great. I’ve never done it before. I feel great and there is nowhere else I would rather do it than here. I wanted it bad and the big boys got me there,” Hurst said. “… I’m not too worried about Savannah. We’re all healthy. Savannah is a good team, but we’ve gotten better. It’s going to be a good game.”

Cameron put up 48-unanswered points on the scoreboard to end the first half with Tye Speer setting off a flurry of scores with a 30-yard TD on a jet sweep, then set up a 16-yard TD reception from quarterback Ty Campbell to receiver Austin Fulton after picking off a screen pass at the Screaming Eagles 21-yard line. Just second into the second quarter Hurst punched the ball into the end zone from 6 yards out, setting up his TD with multiple double-digit carries. An interception by defensive back Tanner Riley eventually set up Speer’s final TD of the game, this time from 10 yards out on a jet sweep, all but sealing the victory before the midway point of the second quarter.

“It obviously pumped them up and got them going,” Speer said. “It feels good, but we’re just getting started. We’re 1-0 and ready to go kick Savannah’s butt … We just have to work as a team. We were missing a lot of starters, our quarterback (during Cameron’s 55-7 loss to Savannah). Now we’re all healthy and we should win.”

READ MORE IN NEXT WEEK’S EDITION OF THE CAMERON CITIZEN-OBSERVER.