Curse Ends!!

Call it a jinx, hex or even “The Colonel Curse.”
Fifteen straight times the Whitley County High School football team had defeated Lynn Camp – the longest streak in the venerable series.
But a hard-running trio of Wildcat running backs, coupled with some Colonel miscues, broke the Lynn Camp losing streak Friday.
“We hadn’t won this game in 15 years and just weren’t going to give up this time,” said sophomore tailback Joe Roskopf who finished with 97 yards rushing and scored two huge second half touchdowns that blew open a tight game for the Cats.
“It’s all about pride. We just made our adjustments at halftime and I just kept my feet moving and our line blocked. It worked.”
With laser efficiency Roskopf, senior Jimmy Chaffin and Josh Reynolds carved through Whitley’s defense for nearly 200 yards rushing on just 27 attempts.
“We couldn’t stop them,” said Colonel head coach Mike Campbell, whose team fell to 1-2 on the season. “And we stalled out offensively. That’s basically it … It’s alright to let those guys get a few yards, but you can’t give them the home run.”
The first “home run” came only 42 seconds into the game when Chaffin broke loose from 47 yards out to score – only two plays into the opening drive of the game.
Chaffin had a game high 182 yards rushing on just 11 carries.
With 7:55 to go in the half, Whitley County evened things up when senior running back Ladale Rider scored on a 13-yard run. The Colonels got close after a 15-yard pass interference penalty moved the ball into the red zone. Mark Teague’s extra point made it a 7-7 game.
Whitley recovered a fumble by Lynn Camp senior quarterback Nick Scalf on the Wildcat 47-yard-line, but could not take advantage of good field position as Jordan McCumbers was picked off by Chaffin on the first play of the drive.
Lynn Camp took the lucky break 55 yards for a score when Chaffin found the goal line on a 28-yard sprint seven plays later to give the Wildcats a 14-7 lead with 2:04 left in the half.
After a 35 yard return by Rider on the ensuing kickoff, he leapt over the pile two yards from the goal line to score with 37 second to play before the break, knotting things at 14.
On their first drive of the second half, Whitley County was flagged three times for 22 yards in penalties. Matters got worse when a fourth-and-19 punt attempt resulted in a bad snap that sailed over the punter’s head, and gave Lynn Camp first down on the Colonel 45.
After 15 yards on two runs by Roskopf, Lynn Camp’s offense stalled and forced fourth-and-four. The drive was saved by a 12 yard pass to Reynolds from Scalf. Roskopf got in from 12 yards out to give the Colonels a 21-14 edge.
Rider scored again for Whitley County with 11:24 to go in the game, but Teague’s extra point sailed wide right leaving it a 21-20 affair.
Roskopf scored again on Lynn Camp’s next drive, and Whitley answered with a 23-yard touchdown by Cody Jeffries with 6:13 left in the game. A two point try by Rider fell short making it 28-26.
Chaffin sealed the win for Lynn Camp with a 26-yard TD run with 3:52 to play.
“We were able to run the football more consistently this time,” said Lynn Camp coach David Mitchell, pointing out the difference between this win and the other losses against the Colonels. “Having those three running backs helps keep somebody that’s fresh with the ball.”
For the first time in recent memory, the Wildcats had a distinct size advantage on the Colonels. The coaches disagreed about effect, but the difference was clear on the field.
“I think for the players and the people around the community, this is a big game. It means a lot to them because we haven’t won in so long,” Mitchell said. “I think as a coach, I look at the season as a whole … win or lose, it’s a building block to move to the next level. If it was a district game we’d lost so many times, it would bother me more.”
Lynn Camp outgained Whitley on the ground 194 to 108 and had 211 yards of total offense to the Colonels’ 125.
Campbell said crucial mistakes, and a failure to get “in synch” on offense cost his team the game.
“That team’s going to do a lot of damage in Class A football,” Campbell said. “I don’t see anybody in their district beating that bunch.”
“They are going to get you sooner or later … they got us with a very good football team. They deserve to win.”
Lynn Camp will play Pineville at home Friday in the team’s first district match-up of the season. Whitley County will be on the road in their district opening against Lincoln County.

Whitley Co.: 0 14 0 12 – 26
Lynn Camp: 7 7 7 13 – 34
First quarter
LC – Chaffin 47 run (Chaffin kick) 11:18
Second quarter
WC – Rider 13 run (Teague kick) 7:55
LC – Chaffin 28 run (Chaffin kick) 204
WC – Rider 2 run (Teague kick) :37
Third quarter
LC – Roskopf 12 run (Chaffin kick) 3:32
Fourth quarter
WC – Rider 2 run (kick failed) 11:24
LC – Roskopf 2 run (Chaffin kick) 9:08
WC – Jeffries 23 run (rush failed) 6:13
LC – Chaffin 26 run (kick failed) 3:52