French Camp Academy head football coach Nathan Wright is well aware of the task awaiting his Panthers Friday night.
FCA will be playing host to Nanih Waiya, which is currently 6-1 overall and 4-0 in Region 3-1A play. The Warriors have not lost a region contest since the 2013 season.
"Coach (Ryan) Keeton does a great job with his boys and he has some speed over there to work with," Wright said. "Last year I thought we did a good job getting in the right place; we just couldn't tackle them when we got there."
Wright said there is no doubt that Nanih Waiya is good, but said if his team has the right attitude going into the contest, it will have a positive effect on the game for his Panthers.
"The big thing with my kids right now is the mentality of not having played a lot of football games," Wright said. "That's really showing up. The question is are they going to compare scores of what Nanih Waiya has done and not show up, or are they going to get ready and give it their best?"
FCA lost to homestanding Starkville Academy 28-9 last week, snapping a two-game winning streak for the 2-5 Panthers. French Camp is 2-1 in Region 3-1A play, but takes on league frontrunners Nanih Waiya and Noxapater the next two weeks. The top four teams in each region advance to the MHSAA Class 1A State Football Playoffs.
Starkville Academy led the visiting Panthers 13-0 after one quarter and was up 19-0 before FCA got on the scoreboard with a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Kendall Coleman. The Panthers added another three points later in the first half thanks to a 32-yard field goal by Bradley McGlothin, but the Vols led 22-9 at the half and added another touchdown in the third quarter.
"We didn't show up to play," Wright said of his team's slow start. “I was a little bit frustrated with the way we came out. We knew what we were supposed to do, but we just didn't do those things."
Although the game against SA was disappointing, Wright said his team has potential.
"I still think we are improving and we had been getting better week after week," he said. "We just made a lot of mistakes last weekend."
Coleman rushed for 94 yards on 12 carries to lead FCA, while Zac Gilmer had six carries for 69 yards. Edwards hit on 5-of-17 passes for 30 yards with Coleman catching three passes for 10 yards and Colin Perry and Braxton Bright making one catch each.
Coleman recorded 11 tackles for FCA, while Edwards, Skylyr Effler and Aaron Witt had eight stops each.
