French Camp football coach Nathan Wright thought most of the season that his team was good enough to not only be a playoff team but perhaps win the division title.
The last two games of the season, the Panthers played like it.
French Camp used a 27-point second quarter and built an early lead to take a 41-28 a win over Leake County in the regular-season finale.
French Camp finishes the season with a 4-7 record and won the last two games of the season.
“We kind of continued to look pretty sharp from the Sebastopol game in the first half,” Wright said. “But then we kind of reverted to what have done at times this year. They pulled within a touchdown and I got kind of nervous. But we setting down and took care of it and finished with a win. It was nice to finish with a win and not many years you get to do that. It’s been since the state championship game that you get to finish with a win so that was nice for my seniors.”
The game was tight in the first quarter as French Camp took the early lead when Ethan Wright hit Noah Dew on a 12-yard touchdown pass. Reese Churchill hit the PAT and French Camp led 7-0.
Leake County answered as they hit a big play and scored on a 74-yard run. The try for two failed and French Camp held a slim 7-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
French Camp started to pull away in the second quarter. Wright scored the first of three touchdowns on an 8-yard run and Churchill hit the PAT as the Panthers led 14-6.
After getting the ball back, Wright hit Silas Hodge on a 10-yard touchdown pass. The PAT failed and French Camp led 20-6.
The Panthers went to the air again as Wright hit Avery Summers on a 41-yard pass. Churchill hit the PAT and French Camp led 27-6.
Leake County answered with a 1-yard run and converted with two-point attempt to cut the lead to 27-14.
But French Camp answered right before the half as Wright hit Summers on a 52-yard pass. Churchill hit the PAT and French Camp led 34-14 at the half.
Leake County made things interesting in the second half with a pair of scores as they found the end zone on a 53-yard run in the third quarter to cut the score to 34-20.
In the fourth, the Gators added a 12-yard run and converted the two-point attempt to cut the French Camp lead to 34-28.
But the Panthers added a 5-yard run from Wright and a Churchill PAT for the final margin of 41-28.
French Camp had 418 yards of total offense. Wright was 11-of-14 passing for 218 yards and four TDs. He also rushed for 133 yards on 14 carries and two TDs. Silas Hodge had nine carries for 39 yards while Avery Summers had two rushes for 28 yards.
Summers had four catches for 140 yards and two TDs while Hodge had three catches for 35yards. Noah Dew had two catches for 34 yards.
On defense, Wright led the Panthers with 12 tackles, giving him 148 on the season. Wright’s 148 tackles currently rank third in the state of reports stats on Max Preps. Jackson Academy’s Adams Kennedy leads the state with 154 tackles. Hodge had nine tackles to up his total to 138 tackles, which puts him at fourth in the state.
Case Shurden had 11 tackles as well for the Panthers. Benjamin Wright had eight stops while Max Bronson had seven stops. Logan Wright had five tackles while Summers, James Johnson and Rylan Moore each had four stops apiece. Shurden and T.J. Pierce each had fumble recoveries.
“I thought we finished strong and we feel like if we get them all back, we could be good for a two or three-year stretch. You just never know what it’s going to look like. But I’m proud of my seniors. We had three seniors that had never played before and they bought in and did as well as they could. I can’t say enough about Ethan. I know he’s my nephew but he led us on both sides this year. He probably took more hits than anybody in the country and never looked like he was tire and played fantastic. Overall, it was one of those growing years and we felt like it was going to be. The good part is we were in every game but the bad part is it seemed like we found a way to lose several of those games. But it’s good to end on a win and gives us some good momentum going into the offseason and we are excited about the guys we have coming up.”
New divisions announced
The MHSAA announced the new divisions and realignment last week for the next two-year scheduling cycle. Not much will change for French Camp but the Panthers will play in a smaller division as Class 1A goes to eight divisions instead of four.
French Camp will be in Division 6-1A with Ethel, McAdams, Nanih Waiya, Noxapater and newcomer Velma Jackson for football. That means that French Camp will also have to pick up additional non-division opponents for the next two-year scheduling cycle.
French Camp reported 112 students in grades nine through 11. The top class 1A school was East Marion with 156 students.
