Newark quarterback endures emotional journey

If Ben Campbell needs a spark during a Newark High football game, the quarterback looks at his shoes.

The gold Nike cleats with black trim were custom made to hold a special message. RIP is stamped on the left heel. MOM is stamped on the right heel.

"It just helps me play," he said. "I use them as motivation."

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Jim and Carla Moxley-Campbell were hard-working parents, doing everything to provide for their growing family. Carla was raising infants through much of her time in nursing school, but earned her degree from Delaware Tech and began working at the Masonic Home of Delaware. Jim owned JRC Contracting, a small construction firm that renovated, remodeled and built houses.

In 2000, when Ben was 3, all their lives were turned upside down.

"The first year that she could work full time as a nurse was when she was diagnosed with leukemia," Jim said. "She would do anything for anybody. She was the nicest person in the world."

As Carla's journey in and out of hospitals began, Jim worked desperately to maintain his business and raise four children. They were ages 7, 5, 3 and 2 at the time.

"It was definitely a struggle," Jim said. "But I was always a hustler. I had that kind of personality. I'm a go-getter. … I had no option to quit. I had no option to fail."

St. Anthony of Padua Grade School helped, granting free tuition for a year and often sending food home at night. Plenty of people pitched in for the Campbells.

"My family helped out a lot," Jim said. "My dad and her family helped us out a lot. That was a good thing. I couldn't always make ends meet."

But as Carla's illness continued and the kids grew older, it became more difficult to help with homework and provide discipline. The brother of Carla's sister-in-law, Robin Moxley, worked at the Milton Hersey School in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The free, pre-K through 12 coed home and school serves children from families of low income, limited resources and social need.

"When my wife was sick, she thought that was a good idea for them to go there," Jim said. "They would get a good education, and that would help out a lot."

The family toured the school and decided to enroll the three youngest children – daughter Alex and sons Ben and Noah. The oldest son, Sam, did not go to Hershey.

"We took them up there, let them see what it was like, and we talked to them about it," Jim said. "It was really tough. My kids cried when I took them up there. They didn't want to go. … I didn't want them to go there, but it turned out to be a good thing for them."

Tearful transition

The Milton Hershey School was founded in 1909 by the chocolate magnate and his wife, Kitty, who were unable to have children. The school's 1,900 students live in houses on campus, supervised by married houseparent couples experienced in child care. Each child shares a bedroom with one or two other children, and 10 to 12 students of the same gender and close to the same age live in each home.

About 40 percent of the students also have a brother or sister at the school, and all come from challenging backgrounds. The change in environment often comes as a shock for new students.

"When I first went up there, in fifth grade, I hated it. I hated it a lot," Ben said. "I couldn't sleep. I cried myself to sleep every night for a year.

"It's a great school. It's just hard for a 10-year-old kid to go up there, away from his family and everything he knows. It's like going to college when you're in the fifth grade."

Their father did what he could to ease the transition.

"Many times when we would drop them off, on the way up there they would get sick," Jim said. "They didn't want to be there. It was tough. There were a lot of tears.

"I was up there many times, as many times as I could," Jim added. "And as many times as they could come home, they were home."

Meanwhile, the family continued to deal with Carla's illness.

"She was in the hospital all of my life," Ben said. "I don't even remember what my mom sounds like. It was really hard."

Carla's brother, Scott Moxley, was a 100 percent match for a stem-cell transplant, and the treatment initially showed promise. But then Carla developed graft-versus-host disease, a complication that occurs when transplanted cells regard the recipient's body as foreign and attack those cells.

"She was there, but she wasn't there. That's how I felt," Ben said. "I knew she was there, but I couldn't call her, couldn't talk to her. She couldn't physically talk.

"She lost her vision. I remember seeing her at Christiana Hospital. We walked in there, and she just freaked out because she couldn't see us. She didn't know who my brother and I were, because she couldn't see us. I just started bawling my eyes out, because that's my mom. I didn't want to see her like that."

The family's insurance coverage limited the amount of time Carla could spend at Christiana or St. Francis Hospital. The closest nursing home that could accommodate her needs was in Baltimore.

"When the kids came home from Hershey, we'd have to drive to Baltimore," Jim said. "That was an all-day thing, go to Baltimore, see their mom for a couple of hours and then drive back. There was never enough time."

Carla died on June 16, 2011, at the age of 45. It was Ben's final day of eighth grade.

"My wife passed away the day before they were coming home for the summer," Jim said. "That was really bad, devastating.

"I wouldn't wish it on anybody. I wish they could have had their mom, I really do. My daughter [Alex], her mom was my daughter's best friend. She still has trouble with it. My youngest son [Noah] has trouble with it. It was a lot, way too much for kids."

Carrying on

After Carla's death, Alex and Ben continued to attend the Milton Hershey School.

"I hated it up until high school. I knew that I had to be there, and that's the only reason I did well," Ben said. "I knew my dad needed me to be up there and be strong and get through everything we were going through.

"I took the opportunity to the fullest. I did everything for my mom. I got good grades all the time, I was on the honor roll. I played as many sports, stayed out of trouble as much as I could."

Alex graduated from Milton Hershey and now attends Wilmington University, with almost all of her college expenses paid for by Hershey's multibillion-dollar trust. The school's graduates are eligible to receive up to $80,000 for college, and Ben was on track to join his sister.

But following his sophomore year – after leading the school's football team to a 6-4 record as the starting quarterback – Ben wanted a change.

Jim relinquished his business in 2007 and went to work for Wohlsen Construction, where he now serves as a superintendent. He remarried in 2012, and he and his new wife, Sandralynn, felt they could provide the stability needed for Ben to return.

"He wanted to come home," Jim said. "Believe me, I wanted him to come home, too. I brought both of my boys home after I got remarried. Now they live with us."

Ben decided to attend Newark High as a junior. He met with Butch Simpson, the school's longtime football coach.

"He's a very open guy with me," Simpson said. "He has sat with me and told me the story, and it's heartbreaking."

The Yellowjackets were coming off of a 1-9 season. They needed some help at quarterback.

"I saw film of him when he was a sophomore, and I thought he was gifted," Simpson said. "I'm thinking 'The football gods have been good to me, they just brought me Ben Campbell.'"

But even with his talent, Ben was going to have to fit in. He was the new guy.

"I didn't know anybody on the team. I didn't know anybody in the school," he said. "I really didn't know anybody around here."

Simpson was amazed that after just three weeks, Ben's teammates elected him junior captain. But the Yellowjackets struggled again, finishing 3-7.

"There was a transition. There was a lot for him to adjust to," Simpson said. "Him moving down here and moving out of that environment, then into a new, challenging environment. It would have weighed on anybody."

Turning the corner

Ben briefly considered going back to Milton Hershey for his senior year. But now he is comfortable – at home, at school, and most of all, on the football field.

"I'm building friendships that are going to last forever," he said. "I love the people I play with. They're like my brothers. I'd do anything for them, and I know they'd do anything for me."

He spent much of the summer working with Damon Daniels, a local personal trainer who focuses on quarterbacks, receivers and defensive backs.

"I want to be great. I don't want to be average," Ben said. "I put in so much work over the offseason for this year. I want to go far."

Ben's senior season is off to a great start. In two games, the quarterback has passed for 449 yards and seven touchdowns, and rushed for 284 yards and two more scores. The Yellowjackets are 2-0 going into Friday's 7 p.m. kickoff at Glasgow.

"I just want to make my family proud," he said. "I want to make my mom proud. I pray every night that she looks down on me. I do my best in every game. I play for her."

Newark opened the season with a 40-25 win over Oxford (Pennsylvania) on Sept. 5. Ben threw for 234 yards and five touchdowns, and he spread them around – two to Peter Suski, one each to Jim Bond, Brendan Sherman and Joe Burton.

"Last year, he was a little iffy on the short patterns and his accuracy," Suski said. "But he's worked so hard this summer, and it's showing. You can tell how much he has improved."

"He's making good decisions," Simpson said. "He's finding the open receiver, and he's throwing an absolutely accurate pass to those open receivers. He's a different quarterback this year."

Ben followed with 215 passing yards and two touchdowns in a 35-21 victory over Charter of Wilmington last week. He was just as effective with his feet, rushing for 138 yards against Oxford and 146 yards against Charter. He ran for a touchdown in both games.

"I love running the ball," he said. "My coaches yell at me all the time to get on the ground, but I just love hitting. I love contact, I love being physical. I use football to release anger."

Simpson described him as "a tough guy, not just one of those quarterback guys," and said Ben could be one of Newark's best defensive players. But the Yellowjackets can't risk an injury to someone already responsible for nine touchdowns, so he plays only offense.

Ben's primary goal is to continue his football career in college. So far, he has received recruiting interest from only Morgan State. But Simpson, who has seen dozens of Newark players earn scholarships from every level of college, has no doubt that will change soon. Ben's size (6-foot-2, 185 pounds) and ability to both run and throw will take him to the next level.

"He'll play college football, and he'll be a very good college quarterback," Simpson said. "Someone will be blessed to have him."

Jim Campbell is amazed when he sees what his son has become as a high school senior.

"Ben is just the strongest kid," Jim said. "He keeps a lot to himself, but he's very driven. He loves football. It's like his release. He's such a strong-hearted person, and he just won't give up."

Jim didn't play football at McKean, opting for the pole vault, soccer and diving instead. But he has traveled to all of Ben's games – even when he was in Hershey - and loves watching his son play.

"I haven't been the greatest father in the world," Jim said. "But I've always been there, pushed and supported, put a roof over their heads and food on the table and paid the medical bills. I do what I can."

Ben knows his father had to make some very difficult decisions.

"He's a great dad," Ben said. "He did everything that he could to provide for us."

After the Charter game, when Ben rallied Newark from an early 13-0 deficit, Simpson said, "Ben's a special player right now, and he's carrying us." Charter coach Larry Cylc said, "Newark's back. There's no question about that."

The Yellowjackets have the potential to field their best team since 2011, when they went 11-1 and reached the DIAA Division I championship game. Much of their success will come from the arm and feet of Ben Campbell.

"He deserves success," Simpson said. "I admire how he has overcome and gotten through issues in his personal life."

The biggest compliment comes from his father.

"He's a great kid. He's doing really well," Jim Campbell said. "I'm proud of him. His mom would be proud of him."

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter at @BradMyersTNJ