After a tough loss to Hamilton last week, French Camp coach Nathan Wright didn’t know how his team would respond.
The Panthers responded in fine fashion with their best offensive night of the year, rolling up 415 yard and taking a 55-38 win over rival Ethel on Friday night.
French Camp improves to 2-4 on the season and will host West Lowndes in another key division contest.
Wright said his team showed a lot of character by bouncing back with a win over a talented Ethel squad.
“Offensively, we had a better game and did a lot of things well and didn’t do some things well at all,” Wright said. “But we managed to break some big plays and that was the difference in then game. We took the early lead and managed to keep it but like a lot of times this year, we let them back in it. We managed to stay one score in front of them. Thankfully, we were able to quench their momentum each time and finally pulled away late in the third and early in the fourth. It was a great game for the fans to watch. I was proud for our kids. We had a tough emotional loss last week and I was glad to see them come back and play a physical game and get a win.”
The Panthers took control of the game early. The first score came in the first quarter when Ethan Wright hit Noah Dew on a 9-yard touchdown pass. Reese Churchill hit the PAT and the Panthers led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The Panthers extended the lead in the second period when Wright scored on a 6-yard touchdown run. Churchill’s PAT gave the Panthers a 14-0 lead.
Ethel finally got on the board on the next possession when Marcus Jones scored on a 1-yard run. The try for two failed and the Tigers trailed 14-6.
The Panthers responded with a big play as Wright hit Avery Summers on a 55-yard touchdown pass. Churchill’s PAT gave the Panthers a 21-6 lead.
Bobo Hubbert then returned the ensuing kick 80 yards for a touchdown and converted the two-point attempt to cut the margin to 21-14.
French Camp added a 56-yard run from Silas Hodge and a Churchill PAT to take a 28-14 lead into the half.
“We just had some wrong things happen at the wrong times,” Ethel coach Adam Smith said. “I feel like if we play a better game and were able to play better on third down, the game looks a lot different. But it’s French Camp and you can throw records out the window. It’s a big rivalry. We messed up in some key spots where we needed to execute better.”
The Tigers made things interesting to start the third quarter as they went and scored on a 4-yard run by Hubbert. The try for two was good and the Panthers held a slim 28-22 lead.
But French Camp responded with a 7-yard run from Ethan Wright. The PAT failed and the Panthers led 34-22.
Again, Ethel answered with a 33-yard run from Jones. The try for two was good and Ethel cut the lead to 34-30.
But that’s where the Panthers started to pull away as Wright hit Hodge on a 57-yard touchdown pass. Wright ran in the two-point conversion and the Panthers extended the lead to 42-30 at the end of the third quarter.
The Panthers finally put the game away in the fourth with back to back scores as Wright hit Avery Summers on a 50-yard touchdown pass. The try of two failed and the Panthers led 48-20. The Panthers added a 10-yard run from Hodge and a Churchill PAT to extend the lead to 55-30.
Davion Hunt added an 9-yard run for the Tigers for the final margin of 55-38.
French Camp had balanced offensive night with 207 yards passing and 208 rushing for 415 total yards.
Wright was 10-of-13 passing for 207 yards and four TDs. Wright also ran for 49 yards on 15 carries. Hodge had 142 yards rushing on 13 carries. Summers had five catches for 120 yards while Hodge had 66 yards on two catches. Noah Dew had two catches for 21 yards.
Wright also had a big night on defense with 14 solo tackles and four assists for 18 total tackles. Hodge had 10 solo tackles and seven assists for 17 total tackles. Aayden Ray had six solo tackles and five assists while Casen Shurden had four solo tackles and six assists. J.D. Leach had three solo tackles and three assists.
Jones led Ethel with 152 yards rushing on 26 carries with three TDs and was 6-of-8 passing for 23 yards.
Cameron Farmer had three solo tackles and 10 assists with 2.5 sacks to lead the Ethel defense while Hunt had three solo tackles and seven assists with two sacks. Jones had two solo tackles and five assists.
