Wake Forest manhandles lower-division Campbell
Christian Beal-Smith rushed for three touchdowns and Wake Forest also scored on an interception return and kickoff return in a 66-14 rout of visiting Campbell on Friday night at Truist Field in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Zion Keith’s 45-yard interception return and Donavon Greene’s kickoff return of 96 yards resulted in third-quarter touchdowns. It was Wake Forest’s first kickoff return for a touchdown in 13 years.
Quarterback Sam Hartman was 12-of-16 for 166 yards with one touchdown. He threw a 9-yard scoring strike to Taylor Morin to complete the first possession of the second half as the Demon Deacons (1-2) extended their lead to 31-7 in the first football meeting between the schools.
Beal-Smith scored on runs of 2, 10 and 5 yards, helping Wake Forest to the fourth-most points in team history.
The game marked the lone nonconference game for Wake Forest, moved up one week after the Demon Deacons’ Sept. 26 date with Notre Dame was postponed. The schedule shift with the Campbell game prevented Wake Forest from having back-to-back off weeks.
Campbell (0-4), a member of the Football Championship Subdivision, completed its four-game fall slate. At this time, the Fighting Camels have indicated they don’t intend to compete in a possible spring schedule set up by the Big South Conference.
Campbell quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams and receiver Mason Donaldson each threw and caught a touchdown pass.
Beal-Smith’s 2-yard touchdown run capped Wake Forest’s first possession — a 10-play, 80-yard march.
On Campbell’s next snap, linebacker Traveon Redd tipped and then grabbed Williams’ pass for an interception, setting up Wake Forest at the Camels’ 21-yard line. The Demon Deacons were denied when Nick Sciba missed a 28-yard field goal.
Campbell gave it back with fumble on the next play, with Keith recovering. Beal-Smith ran 10 yards on a direct snap for a touchdown.
The Camels finally scored on Williams’ 7-yard toss to Donaldson in the corner of the end zone. The drive was extended on a fourth-down offsides penalty on Wake Forest.
Sciba made a 41-yard field goal in the final minute of the first half for a 24-7 lead.
Campbell controlled the ball for almost seven minutes on the game’s opening possession, but Robert Brown missed wide left on a 27-yard field goal attempt.
–Field Level Media
