After two promising wins to open Division 3-1A play, it appeared as if the French Camp Panthers had turned the corner.
But the Panthers took a step back on Friday night as they dropped a 26-3 decision to division-leading West Lowndes.
French Camp falls to 2-5 on the season and 2-1 in District 3-1A and will host Vardaman this week in another district contest.
“It was a frustrating night. That was our worst showing of the year so that was disappointing. I hope it will help us in the long run,” Wright said. “We knew we were going to have issues up front. We couldn’t block them up front and that’s something we have been dealing with all season. It will be nice to get a couple of guys back this season who have been out. I hope we get a little better this week.”
West Lowndes got on the board first with a safety in the first quarter to lead 2-0. The Panthers’ only score came in the second quarter on a 32-yard field goal from Rob Surrette.
“They were very athletic but not as good as I thought they were going to be,” Wright said. “We stunk it up, especially on offense and put the ball on the ground. I felt like we played pretty good defense. It was a 3-2 game at the half, and I felt like we had turned the tide even though we hadn’t played well. We drove the field and got the field goal and one of their best linemen went down. I felt like we were in good shape.”
But things fell apart for the Panthers in the third quarter with back-to-back fumbles as West Lowndes scored on a 30-yard pass and a 15-yard run. West added both two-point conversion and led 18-3 at the end of the quarter.
West Lowndes added a 2-yard run and two-point conversion in the fourth for the final margin of 26-3.
“I like our team, we just have to get ready to play on Friday night,” Wright said. “I hope maybe we have turned the corner. I think the loss will help us down the road. I’m anxious to see how the kids will respond. They didn’t do anything tricky. I felt like they held us all night, but we couldn’t get the call. I thought the officiating was pretty bad. It’s always been bad, but it’s been worse than usual. We couldn’t get a holding call but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
The Panthers struggled on offense with just 103 yards. Cody Perry was just 1-of-5 passing for 30 yards. Silas Hodge had 51 yards rushing on 14 carries but also lost two fumbles.
On defense, Rob Surrette had his best night of the season with 11 solo tackles and an assist. Ethan wright had eight solo tackles and four assists while Hodge had seven solo tackles and two assists. Wesley Vowell had five solo tackles and five assists while Macon Bentley had five solo tackles, two assists and an interception. Abu Sillah had four solo tackles and four assists while Avery Summers had three solo tackles and four assists. Perry had three solo tackles and two assists while Javon Hood had two tackles and two assists.
“I thought our defense had a good game,” Wright said. “I feel like they are going to give us a chance to be in every game. It was 3-2 at the half and we continued to give them short fields. We are still making some mistake, but they are correctable mistakes. We still have guys who aren’t getting lined up in the right place. What was sad was they were ready to roll over at halftime and we put the ball on the ground and gave them the momentum.”
This week’s game
The Panthers will try to get back on track this week as they host Vardaman on Friday night.
The Rams are 3-2 on the season with wins over Leake County (20-6), Noxapater (24-13) and Myrtle (43-0). Their losses are to East Webster (33-0) and Sebastopol (23-6).
“They are much improved and better than they have been,” Wright said. “They look like they have some kids who can run and can compete. If we keep laying the ball down, it doesn’t matter. That’s the frustrating part right now. I have a good running back, but he can’t hold onto the football and doesn’t have a lot of vision.”
