By Peter DiGiovanni
EAST WHITELAND — After summer practice, the Great Valley football team was feeling cautiously optimistic. On Friday night at Valley Stadium, the host Patriots lived up to that optimism. Great Valley broke a halftime tie and dominated the second half to earn an impressive 34-22 victory over Oxford.
Great Valley (1-0) broke a 15-15 halftime deadlock by outscoring the Hornets (0-1) 20-7 in the second half. Patriots quarterback Johnny Campbell completed eight of 12 passes for 163 yards and three touchdown passes. Great Valley totaled 360 yards of offense in the game.
“We regrouped at halftime and came back determined in the second half,” Campbell said. “They couldn’t stop our passing game and we seemed to be the better-coached team in the second half. Our attacking line also did a great job up front and dominated.”
The Patriots took the second half kickoff and showed they meant business. Great Valley started the half with a nine-play, 66-yard touchdown drive. Big runs by Brody Camp and a great one-handed catch on a third-down play by Ty Callahan helped the Patriots move the ball down the field. The Patriots capped the drive when Campbell hit Cole Callahan for an 8-yard touchdown pass and the Patriots took a 22-15 lead.
“We didn’t change anything at halftime,” Patriots head coach Jeff Martin said. “We hurt ourselves in the first half with penalties and on defense with missed tackles. We cleaned up a few things and refocused, and I think our office leadership took over the game in the second half.”
After the touchdown, Great Valley’s defense forced an Oxford punt. Great Valley allowed only three first downs to Oxford in the second half. But the Hornets managed a great 52-yard punt that pinned the Patriots at their own 5-yard line. Then the Patriots’ front wall took over the game.
Great Valley went on a nine-play, 95-yard march that ended when Camp penetrated from 14 yards out and the Patriots led the Hornets 28-15 at the end of the third period.
Oxford’s offense, which had wasted a 172-yard run by Joel McClain, was forced to punt again. This time, a bad snap resulted in a fumble and the Patriots were in action after the ball-recovery attempt at the Oxford 16-yard line.
Sam Snyder made three runs to the Oxford four-yard line, then Campbell threw a four-yard touchdown pass to the unmarked AJ Diamond and the Patriots secured their season-opening victory, putting the Patriots ahead 34-15 with just 9:33 left in the game.
Oxford got on the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter when McClain caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Aidan Kane, making the score 34-22 with 4:53 left in the fourth quarter.
But Great Valley killed the remaining time, with Snyder doing most of the dirty work in the rushing attack. The Patriots’ offensive line also did its job, moving Oxford’s front wall.
“I thought we played really well in the second half,” Martin said. “And Johnny Campbell – you never know what to expect in your first start – played really well. He’s been our scout team QB for the last three years and he’s done everything we’ve asked of him. He played really well tonight and I thought he made excellent decisions.”
