Campbell Has 2-Way Big Day as Morse Wins

SAN DIEGO — A Friday afternoon in the life of Morse’s Jessie Campbell, whose team routed visiting Patrick Henry, 40-14, in a City Eastern League game: 176 yards rushing on 14 carries, 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.

And that was with a sprained left knee. He ditched his brace at halftime, with the team doctor’s permission, because his knee was feeling better.

This wasn’t even Campbell’s best game. Heavens, no. Just last week, he gained 254 yards on 17 carries and scored 5 touchdowns.

Ask Campbell or Coach John Shacklett how Friday’s performance compares with others this year, and they’ll look at you funny before answering.

Said Campbell: “I liked last game better.”

Said Shacklett: “He had a great game against Lincoln, a great game against Serra . . . he’s quite a young man, isn’t he?”

In 100 carries this season, Campbell, a 5-foot 7-inch, 160-pound junior, has rushed for 851 yards and scored 13 touchdowns. He cuts and turns, slices and burns. His first three steps are quicker than most first steps.

And that’s on offense. On defense, Campbell’s 4 interceptions tied six others for the San Diego Section record for a game. Montgomery’s Robert Solis was the last to do it, against Mar Vista on Nov. 1, 1984.

But Campbell would rather talk about his running.

“The interceptions are nice, but I enjoy the runs more,” he said. “I’d rather not be out there the whole game, because I get tired. But I’ll help the team out any way possible.”

Friday, the team dressed in green and gold wished Campbell hadn’t been out there the entire game. Patrick Henry quarterback Luke Lowrey completed 13 of 27 passes for 159 yards, but his key statistic was 6 interceptions, 3 of which Morse turned into touchdowns.

Morse (6-1, 2-0 and ranked third in the county) zapped Patrick Henry (5-2, 1-1) twice in the first quarter, first when Campbell went 48 yards for a touchdown, then when Jason Counts finished a 49-yard drive--set up by William Martin’s interception--by plunging over from the 1.

Morse’s third touchdown, a 4-yard Campbell run, came after Campbell intercepted a Lowrey pass at the Morse 9.

But it was the Tigers’ fourth touchdown, a 27-yard pass from Mike Liera to Teddy Laurence 6 seconds before halftime, that both coaches pointed to as the clincher. Morse was ahead, 19-0, when Joseph Rochester-Hill recovered a Lowrey fumble at the Patrick Henry 34. It took only 2 plays for Morse to score.

“That broke our back,” Patrick Henry Coach Chris Miller said. “They’re a good football team. They came out and jumped on us. Obviously, we didn’t play flawless football.”

Shacklett agreed with Miller’s assessment of Laurence’s touchdown catch.

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “That was the key. That’s why I wanted it so bad.”

The halftime score was 26-0, and all that was left was a ragged second half in which Morse lost 4 fumbles, and Lowrey threw 4 interceptions.

Each team scored 2 touchdowns in the second half. For Morse, Counts ran up the middle for an 8-yard touchdown run, and Jimmy Rose, who started the game at quarterback, caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Mike Liera. Patrick Henry’s Len Bradley teamed with Lowrey for a 55-yard touchdown pass play, and Khalil Short scored from the 1.