The French Camp Academy early lead didn't last long on Friday night, as homestanding Winona Christian School ripped off four unanswered touchdowns on the way to a convincing 39-12 win.
Things don't any easier for the Panthers when they play host to Eupora on Friday night and Winona on Sept. 2. FCA is set to begin Region 3-1A play on Sept. 9 when it pays a visit to Sebastopol.
All three of those teams opened their season with wins, as Eupora beat Water Valley 42-27, Winona downed Montgomery County 55-6 and Sebastopol defeated Scott Central 14-6.
French Camp did manage 204 yards of total offense on the night, with 116 of those coming on two plays.
The Panthers opened the scoring in the game when Colin Perry hit Kendall Coleman with a 57-yard scoring pass. Winona took the lead 7-6 at the end of the first quarter with a 27-yard touchdown pass of its own.
The Stars then scored on touchdown passes of 13 and 25 yards in the second quarter to make it 19-6 at the half, before stretching it out to 27-6 on a 1-yard run and a two-point conversion.
The Panthers got back on the scoreboard on a 49-yard pass from Holman Edwards to Braxton Bright. The fourth quarter saw Winona Christian score on touchdown runs of 3 and 7 yards to make the final 39-12.
Edwards hit on four of five passes for 71 yards for the Panthers, while Perry completed four of his eight attempts for 116 yards. Coleman had four catches for 79 yards, while Bright had two for 79. Also catching passes for FCA were Bruce Wood, Jason May, and Clayton Leathers. Perry was the leading rusher with 13 yards on five attempts.
Skylyr Effler led the Panthers with nine total tacks. while Leathers had eight and Edwards and Aaron Witt recorded seven each.
