By Robbie Robertson
The Star-Herald
French Camp football coach Nathan Wright knew his team was in for a tough time against top-ranked Velma Jackson this past week.
But the Falcons were even better than advertised as they beat the visiting Panthers 73-7 for homecoming.
French Camp falls to 2-7 on the season and will host McAdams for senior night this week.
Wright said he was impressed with what he saw of the unbeaten Falcons, who have outscored teams 407-25 this season.
“They have got some pretty good athletes,” Wright said. “They are running around with 60 kids on the field and 60 kids in the band. It’s had to see who they are in 1A. We had some things that we thought we could do that they just shut down. It’s kind of like Muhammad Ali, everybody has a game plan to they get hit in the mouth. And they were really good. It was homecoming and they had all kinds of stuff going on. What they did to us, they have done to everybody. We were just shellshocked from the beginning. I don’t know what some of the other teams in 1A have, but they are going to be hard to beat. I’ll be honest, about the only thing they weren’t good at was kicking PATs.”
French Camp got the ball to start the game but threw an interception on the third play and the Falcons ran it back 41 yards to the Panthers 1. After a penalty, Velma scored on a 6-yard run but had the PAT blocked for an early 6-0 lead.
After a three and out by the Panthers, the Falcons scored on a 42-yard run to go up 13-0 with 6:24 left in the first period.
The Panthers got their first first down of the game on the ensuing drive after a 32-yard run by Hodge but were eventually forced to punt. The Falcons then went 53 yards in three plays and scored on an 8-yard run to take a 20-0 lead.
French Camp responded with its only scoring drive of the game as they went 53 yards in two plays and scored on a 42-yard run by Silas Hodge with 6.7 seconds left in the quarter. Reese Churchill hit the PAT and the Panthers cut the score to 20-7.
But it only took the Falcons one play to answer as they ran a double reverse pass and scored on a 60-yard pass. The PAT was good and the Panthers led 27-7.
Velma Jackson added three more scores in the second quarter as they scored on a 26-yard run, a 44-yard punt return and a 36-yard pass to take a 48-7 lead at the half.
Velma continued the onslaught in the second half with two third-quarter and two fourth-quarter scored for the final of 73-7.
Hodge finished the game with 100 yards on 11 carries to lead the Panthers.
“Silas had some good runs and still managed to get 100 yards on them,” Wright said. “I really doubt that anybody has rushed for 100 yards on them this year. And I think we are one of the few teams to score on them in the first quarter. I was surprised at how good they were and how well they did some things. They squeezed and got under better than I thought they would. They are physical and with those defensive linemen, they can just destroy and offense. And if you try to cut them, they are athletic enough to just go right over you. One time Silas came off and told me he hit the kid as hard as he could and it felt like hitting a piece of steel. All I could say was ‘I know.’”
This week’s game
The Panthers will be at home for the regular-season finale against McAdams.
The Bulldogs are 1-8 on the season and are coming off a tight 36-26 loss to Noxapater last week. The Bulldogs have lost seven in a row since a 26-20 win over Leake County in week two of the season.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t like what I saw last week at all,” Wright said. “You see their scores for the season and think it’s going to be an easy game and then you see the score last week with Noxapater. McAdams made some plays and have some athletes that can hurt you. And it really came down to an interception at the end for Noxapater. I suspect it will be a tough contest. It seems like everyone plays tough against us.”
As for the postseason, the scenario is an easy one for French Camp. If the Panthers win this week, they are in and are the No. 4 seed with a likely trip to Pascagoula to take on Resurrection Catholic.
