Another big night by quarterback Holman Edwards enabled French Camp to defeat Leake County 26-22. The victory gave French Camp third place in Region 3-1A and an opening-round playoff game Friday at Stringer.
“It was a character game where we had our backs against the wall,” said Coach Nathan Wright. “When we needed to score we scored. That was great to see.”
It was a back and forth game. The Panthers took a 7-0 lead in the second quarter on a 12-yard scoring pass from Edwards to Calvin Johnson. Leake County cut it to 7-6 at the half, then went ahead 14-7 on a third-quarter TD.
A four-yard run by Edwards tied the game at 14, but Leake County responded with a TD and a 2-point conversion for a 22-14 lead. Edwards scored again on a three-yard run, but the 2-point attempt failed, leaving Leake County with a 22-20 lead entering the final period.
Zach Gilmer scored the winning touchdown on a four-yard run midway through the fourth quarter. Johnson then stopped a potential game-winning drive by Leake County with an interception.
Edwards accounted for most of French Camp’s 397 yards of offense with 18 carries for 166 yards and eight completions for 118 yards. Gilmer ran 16 times for 96 yards as the Panthers averaged 7.3 yards on 38 carries.
On defense, Stephon Thompson had 10 tackles and Gilmer nine.
“I was proud of our kids for persevering when something happened,” Wright said. “There were moments when we could have folded it up and laid our heads down, but we kept playing.”
French Camp finishes the regular season 7-4 and 6-2 in region play. Nanih Waiya won the region for the fifth year in a row with an 8-0 record. Noxapater was second at 7-1 and Leake County fourth with a 5-3 mark. Nanih Waiya will be at home against Resurrection Friday, Noxapater at home against East Marion and Leake County travels to Lumberton.
The Panthers face a tough task Friday against a Stringer team that is 10-2. “They’re obviously good,” Wright said. “When you have a 10-win season you’re doing pretty well.”
The Red Devils are led by senior Anthony Thomas, who has run for 1,591 yards, and senior Caleb Dyess, who has totaled 1,569 yards running and passing.
Stringer was second in 4-1A. If French Camp had lost to Leake County, the Panthers who have made a 190-mile drive to 4-1A champion Lumberton instead of a 110-mile drive to Stringer.
“We have guys who have played a lot of games. I hope that will work to our advantage,” Wright said.
