Campbell, Camarillo Iced in Bell Gardens’ 16-7 Win

In the 45-degree chill Friday night at Camarillo High, Fahali Campbell was stopped cold.

And so was Camarillo, which had its overachieving season come to an end with a 16-7 loss to Bell Gardens in a Southern Section Division III semifinal.

Campbell, Camarillo’s speedy senior tailback who entered the game 121 yards shy of the state rushing lead, was held to a season-low 51 yards in 17 carries.

Camarillo (9-4) managed only 107 total yards to the Lancers’ 292.

“They just ran the ball right at us,” Camarillo linebacker John Freedman said.

“They were coming at us on quick counts. I don’t think we were ready to play them.”

The Lancers were ready for Campbell, who finished the season with 2,291 yards. Campbell had only two runs longer than 10 yards--the longest a 14-yard scamper for a touchdown early in the third quarter which brought Camarillo to within 10-7 and gave the Scorpions an emotional shot in the arm.

Camarillo responded by stopping Bell Gardens on its next two possessions. But Campbell, who gained 37 of his yards on the scoring drive, rushed for only 12 yards thereafter. He was held to only two yards in seven first-half carries.

“We’ve stopped every good back we’ve faced,” Bell Gardens Coach Dave Newell said. “The kids are quick and they don’t want anybody setting a record against them. We wanted to make them pass.”

That proved good strategy. Camarillo quarterback Jay Nirenberg completed only three of 16 attempts for 52 yards and badly overthrew receivers throughout the game.

Trailing, 10-7, with eight minutes to play, Camarillo began a drive at its 28-yard line, but Nirenberg’s first pass was intercepted at the 30 by Ricky Oropeza.

Bell Gardens (12-1) then drove seven plays for the clinching touchdown on a six-yard run by senior fullback German Chavez.

Chavez led all ballcarriers with 153 yards in 23 carries.

“Fahali is our offense and they did a good job on him tonight,” Camarillo Coach Carl Thompson said. “We knew they were a good defensive team. They’re the best defensive team we’ve seen.”