Campbell senor running back Scott Hersheberger twirls over a Monadnock defender and into the end zone to make it 40-12 in the third quarter. The Cougars defeated Monadnock 50-26 Friday in Swanzey. (Photo by Michael McMahon/Keene Sentinel)

SWANZEY — Scott Hershberger hit the hole and was off to paydirt, leaving Monadnock — and all of Division III — in the dust.

His third touchdown of the first half gave Campbell all the distance it would need against the Huskies, and put a gap between the Cougars and the rest of the league in the process.

A 50-26 beatdown on Friday night in a marquee-worthy regular-season finale between D-III’s two undefeated conference champs made it clear — the Cougars are the team to beat heading into the playoffs, and they’ll be the tournament’s top seed.

Both sides were full throttle with the top spot up for grabs. It was Campbell that was first to get the pedal down, and it did not let off of it.

The Hershberger brothers combined for 327 yards of total offense and six touchdowns. Scott ran for 140 yards and three scores in the first half, adding a fourth in the second half. Nick ran for 117 yards and added 71 receiving yards on two catches, both for touchdowns.

The Cougars hung 28-unaswered points on the Huskies to open the game.

“We did everything that we wanted to do,” said Campbell coach Glen Costello. “If you go back and look at the physicality of this game, it was not reflective of the final score. I have nothing but respect for those guys over there and at no point did I feel any lead was safe, because it’s Monadnock football.”

But the Huskies opened the game in the most uncharacteristic of ways, fumbling the ball away on Campbell’s 22-yard line on the game’s first possession. It went south in a hurry for the Huskies from there. Campbell marched 78 yards to open the scoring, with Scott Hershberger prancing 19 yards for his first touchdown.

After a pair of four-and-out stops by the Campbell defense, the Cougars rattled off three touchdowns while just 3:50 came off the clock.

Michael Grace hit Bronson Leduc on play action for a 56-yard touchdown as the Cougars made it 14-0 after a Scott Hershberger two-point conversion. Then, the Cougars recovered an onside kick.

Grace then hit Braydon White for a 54-yard connection to move inside the red zone, and Scott Hershberger rushed in from 15 yards out for his second touchdown to put Campbell up 22-0 after another two-point run. The Cougars again attempted an onside kick, and again recovered. On the next play, Grace hit Nick Hershberger for a 50-yard score that made it 28-0 with 8:35 remaining in the first half.

“It got out of hand quick,” said Monadnock coach Ryan Avery. “They got the momentum and it carried them through the whole first half. If we go down [on the first drive] and we don’t fumble, maybe it’s a totally different game, who knows. Good teams can’t do things like that.”

Kaden Smith finally put Monadnock on the board, hitting Tucker Johns for a 32-yard touchdown pass, but Scott Hershberger struck for his third first-half score just three plays later, striking from 42 yards out to make it 36-6 with 3:31 left in the half.

Koby Kidney sent Monadnock into halftime with a little momentum, running in for a 6-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal — set up by a 44-yard run from Chase Elliott — to make it 36-12 at the break.

But the brothers Hershberger picked up where they left off in the second half. Nick broke a 38-yard run to open the third, then Scott ran in his fourth score from 9 yards out.

Monadnock scored 14-straight points to make it 42-26 with 8:41 remaining after a 12-yard score from Smith and a 4-yard dash from Elliott. But Campbell added style points, reaching the half-century mark after Grace hit Nick Hershberger for a 21-yard touchdown pass, then Leduc for the two-point conversion. Down 24 with under seven minutes to play, Monadnock put in its second-string offense.

Grace finished 5-for-5 passing for 189 yards and three touchdowns. Campbell put up 445 total yards of offense to Monadnock’s 284. The Cougars had 362 yards at halftime.

“If that’s not a wake up call, I don’t know what is,” said Avery. “If that doesn’t make you want to work harder, I don’t know what will. It’s for real now, the regular season is over.”

Campbell completes the regular season undefeated for the second season in a row. Last year, the Cougars fell in the finals to Trinity. Earning the top seed again, however, was of little importance to Costello.

“At this point, it’s nothing,” said Costello. “We’re not guaranteed a second game. … We’re going to go at it four quarters at a time and we have something to prove from this point forward.”