French Camp football coach Nathan Wright has tried all season long to get Cody Perry and Macon Bentley on the same page with very little success.
On Friday night, the two finally connected.
Perry threw for a season-high 331 yards and six TDs while Bentley hauled in six passes for 239 yards and five TDs in a 39-25 win over Vardaman.
French Camp improved to 3-5 on the season and is scheduled to play at Noxapater on Friday night in another division 3-1A contest.
Wright said everything finally clicked for Perry and Bentley on Friday night after the two have struggled this season.
“I thought we did pretty well on offense. We went back to our basic set and Cody felt a whole lot more comfortable with that. There’s basically only one read and they were in single coverage. Our guy was better, and Cody made the throws,” Wright said. “We have had that possibility but would overthrow it or under throw it. It’s been frustrating because they just couldn’t connect. It was great to see them have a good game.”
The first quarter was close as French Camp struck first with a 41-yard touchdown run by Silas Hodge. The PAT failed and French Camp led 6-0.
Vardaman answered right back with a 64-yard touchdown pass and hit their PAT to take a 7-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
But that is when Perry and Bentley started their air raid on the Rams’ defense. Perry and Bentley hooked up for touchdown passes of 22 and 13 yards and Surrette hit one PAT as the Panthers led 19-7.
Vardaman’s only score in the second was a 23-yard field goal to make it 19-10 before Perry hit Bentley on a 37-yard touchdown pass. Surrette hit the PAT and French Camp led 26-10 at the half.
“It’s just been one of those crazy things with them. They just haven’t been able to get on the same page all year. Either we would overthrow it, or we wouldn’t catch it,” Wright said of Perry and Bentley. “We knew both of them were very capable, but they just couldn’t connect. Well, they finally connected on Friday night. I’m really glad for both of them. Five touchdowns for a receiver is a really special night.”
In the second half, Vardaman scored first after a long drive with a 4-yard run and converted the two-point conversion to cut the score to 26-18.
But French Camp answered right back with a 60-yard pass from Perry to Bentley. The PAT failed and French Camp led 32-18.
French Camp added one more score in the fourth when Perry hit Bentley on an 81-yard touchdown pass and Surrette hit the PAT as French Camp stretched the lead to 39-18. Vardaman added a 19-yard touchdown pass and PAT for the final margin.
“Vardaman was very much improved and better than I thought they would be. We thought we had an advantage on the outside and took it,” Wright said. “In the second half, they took the ball and put together a long drive and finally scored. Then we got it back and hit a big pass on them. That was a real dagger.”
French Camp had its best offensive night of the season with 331 yards passing and 150 rushing. Perry finished the night 14-or-21 passing for 331 yards and six touchdowns. Bentley finished with seven catches for 239 yards and five TDs while Avery Summers had six catches for 73 yards. Surrette also had one catch for 19 yards.
Hodge had another big night rushing, going for 116 yards on 17 carries while Perry had 16 yards on six carries.
On defense, Ethan Wright had another big night with nine solo tackles and three assists. Wesley Vowell had seven tackles and four assists. Abu Silah had five solo tackles and four assists while Avery Summers had six solo tackles.
French Camp receiver Avery Summers fights for yardage as teammate Silas Hodge avoids contact with the defender.
Jeff Parks / The Star-Herald
Hodge had four solo tackles and two assists while Surrette had three solo tackles, three assists and an interception. Bradley McCoy had two solo tackles and three assists while Perry had three solo tackles.
This week’s game
The Panthers will take on Noxapater in a district game.
But because Noxapater was placed on probation by the MHSAA before the season started, French Camp will be awarded the win no matter the outcome of the game.
Last week, Noxapater lost 34-25 to Leake County in a game that was called in the third quarter after a bench-clearing brawl.
“I really don’t know what to expect from Noxapater,” Wright said. “Their quarterback didn’t play last week and I don’t know if he will play this week. He is a really good player. Two years ago, he beat me single handedly and ran circles around us.”
