White House 21, Station Camp 20 (10/24/08)

The White House Blue Devils captured their first region championship since 2004, beating the Station Camp Bison on its own home field with a thrilling 21-20 Friday night.

DeMarrius Payne stopped kicker Reed Johnson at the two-yard line on a PAT attempt, after the failed snap left Station Camp scrambling. Trailing by a point and unable to kick, Johnson picked up the ball and sprinted to the right corner of the endzone, but never made it as Payne crashed him out of bounds.

Chad Neal recovered the onside kick to preserve the win and Trox Greenwade kneeled on the football near midfield to set off the celebration. For White House, the Region 4-3A championship is the first since the 2004 Blue Devils won Region 6-4A and advanced to the state semifinals.

White House (8-1, 5-0) will host Greenbrier in week 10 in a game that will be televised on CSS, the second time for White House this season. If the Blue Devils are able to complete an undefeated swing through the region, it will also match the 2004 team.

Station Camp opened the game with a march inside the White House red zone, but quarterback Matthew Johnson fumbled the exchange and Aussie Light recovered at the Blue Devils’ 16. The offense was methodical and demanding, going 15 plays and 84 yards for the go-ahead touchdown on a DeMarqus Payne scoring run, eating up the majority of the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.

In the second, the Blue Devils struck quick but not after Station Camp failed twice again in White House territory, with Reed missing a field goal of 34 yards and then Matthew Johnson completing a shovel pass to Donovan Heard on 4^th-and-7 at the Blue Devils 33, but Cody Allen stopped him out of bounds one yard short of the marker.

Then, it was Greenwade to DeMarrius Payne on the second play for 74 yards and the big play Blue Devils were on the board again with a 14-0 lead that held through halftime. With the Blue Devils running out of time in the first half, Matthew Gossett attempted a 54-yard field goal on the wet field but fell three yards short.

A punt following an unsuccessful drive began the third quarter and Station Camp capitalized even off of terrible field position at the five yard line. Hunter Tope, who led all players with 21 carries for 238 yards, rushed for 43 yards on the first play of the series. Johnson then hit Joseph Loos on third and long across the middle for 44 yards, eventually setting up a seven-yard touchdown run by Heard for a 14-7 margin.

White House came right back with authority, going seven plays and 77 yards, the key a 47-yard strike to Chad Neal. Payne later scored his second rushing touchdown of the night and made it 21-7. Greenwade would finish the game with 12-of-15 passing for 240 yards and a touchdown, including 100-yard receiving games for both DeMarrius Payne and Chad Neal.

The Bison drove nine plays and 80 yards from the end of the third to the start of the fourth quarter to cut the lead back to 21-14. Tope scored on a 23-yard run and Reed kicked the extra point.

White House failed on the next two series and finally punted it away with three minutes left in the game, but Brandon Porch returned the good Greenwade punt 32 yards to midfield and the Bison marched to try and tie the game.

Using small chunks of yards, the Bison got to the goalline and Tope put it in on fourth and one. But lining up for the tying PAT, the snap went right through the holder’s hands and Reed had no choice but to try and score – and he was banged to the sidelines trying to reach the corner. White House would then run out the clock.

Station Camp fell to 6-3, 4-1 and no matter what happens next week, White House would play in the postseason as the number one seed due to a head-to-head tiebreaker advantage. DeKalb County beat Sycamore Friday night, ensuring the Tigers in third place and the War Eagles in fourth. White House and Station Camp could not meet again until the quarterfinal round of the playoffs, if both teams win their two first round games. That game would be held at White House.

Station Camp had the ball 49 plays for 405 yards, all but 50 of which on the ground. White House managed 53 plays for 340, but was efficient again, remaining perfect in the red zone for the season.

Matt Parker had one catch on offense, but led the defense with 15 tackles.