CAMDEN — The Camden Bruins sure know how to start off a half of football.

Camden scored on its first offensive play of each half and never trailed in a 28-20 victory over the Pasquotank Panthers on Friday night at Camden Yard.

Brett A. Clark/Daily Advance (ENLARGE)

Camden's Rashard Overton runs around Pasquotank's Torrian Gordon on his way to a touchdown on the first play of the second half of the Bruins' 28-20 win at Camden County High School, Friday. Top: Camden quarterback Ricky Krainiak scores one of his two touchdowns.

"I'm happy," Camden coach Scott Jones said. "Anytime we get a win against them, it's a good win, because we're not supposed to beat them."

Early in the first half, the Panthers kept pace with the Bruins on the scoreboard.

Bruins quarterback Ricky Krainiak took the first snap of the season and ran 61 yards to put Camden up 6-0 just 20 seconds into the game.

Pasquotank responded on its third possession, getting a 20-yard touchdown pass from Brynson Barnes to Devonte Cummings with 24 seconds left in the first quarter to knot the game at 6.

Camden got a 2-yard scoring run from Byron Brooks with 7:28 left in the second quarter to take the lead once again. A Krainiak run on the conversion gave the Bruins a 14-6 lead.

But just 25 seconds later, Pasquotank's Andre Dashiell picked one of four Panther fumbles out of the air and ran 45 yards for the score. Torrian Gordon's conversion run tied the game at 14.

Krainiak broke off another long run — this time a 39-yarder — with 1:05 left in the half. Nick Blackwell's kick put Camden up 21-14 at the break.

"We allowed them to keep the ball too much," Pasquotank coach David Brinson said. "They dominated the time on the clock with the ball. We've got to have it some to get momentum and get things going."

Camden started the second half just like the first. This time, it was running back Rashard Overton taking the ball 76 yards to the end zone. Blackwell's kick gave the Bruins a 14-point cushion.

That ended the Camden scoring, but not the offense. The Bruins kept churning out yards, dominating the time of possession with a running attack that racked up 356 yards. Overton led the charge with 137 yards on 13 carries. Krainiak added 128 on nine rushes. Byron Brooks was the workhorse, adding 86 yards on 21 attempts.

"I thought (Krainiak) played a really good game — managed the game really well," Jones said. "He just took advantage of a couple of plays. He has the potential to take it the distance every time he touches it, as does Brooks and Rashard. Rashard, I was really pleased with him, because he broke some tackles on that long run."

Barnes finished the scoring for the Panthers with a 5-yard touchdown run with 11:05 left.

Barnes ended the game 4-of-6 for 48 yards passing, hitting Cummings twice for 27 yards. Krainiak was 3-of-10 for 36 yards, connecting with Demetrius Branch twice for 27 yards. Jones was pleased with the play of his team, especially the defensive effort in the second half. But for the Panthers, it is back to work on that side of the ball.

"They've got to step up," Brinson said. "I'm sure we'll get better, but we've got to learn to play defense better. We can't give up 28 points a game."