Trailing at halftime, Noxapater coach Caleb Kelly challenged his team to play as hard as they could for two quarters. All he really needed was one good quarter.
The Tigers rallied from a 35-12 deficit and scored 30 straight points to take a 42-35 win over French Camp on Friday night. Noxapater improves to 4-5 on the season with the win and will travel to Sebastopol on Thursday night.
Kelly said the team showed a lot of heart and determination in the comeback win.
“I was proud of our kids,” Kelly said. “It would have been easy to quit when it was 35-12 and everything was going against us. They could have just quit but just needed that spark, and we got it from Emmanuel Carter.”
He continued, “Our kids needed that, and it was huge for the growth of our program. Believing you can overcome adversity and then doing it and finishing a game is huge for us. That’s what we have been talking about the whole season. I challenged them at the half to play their best for two quarters and see what happened. I will say that French Camp has a good football team. Their record doesn’t indicate how good they really are.”
Both teams were forced to punt on their first series, but French Camp snapped the ball over the punter’s head and gave Noxapater the ball at the 1-yard line. Emmanuel Carter scored on the next play, but the two-point try failed and Noxapater led 6-0.
French Camp then responded with a nine-play, 66-yard drive as Ethan Wright hit Avery Summers on a 7-yard touchdown pass. Reese Churchill hit the PAT and French Camp took a brief 7-6.
Noxapater then responded with a 12-play, 73-yard drive as Emmanuel Carter scored on a 6-yard run. The try for two failed and Noxapater led 12-7.
French Camp struck quickly as Wright hit Avery Summers on a screen pass that the junior turned into a 56-yard touchdown. Churchill’s PAT was good, and French Camp retook the lead at 14-12.
After the Tigers turned the ball over on downs, French Camp went driving again, this time going 83 yards in five plays as Silas Hodge scored on a 16-yard run with 2:34 left in the half. Churchill’s PAT was good, and French Camp led 21-12 at the half.
“I think the biggest thing is we made some adjustment on defense that gave us a chance,” Kelly said. “We moved a freshmen linebacker to cornerback, and he had a big pick six for us and then we moved Jimmy Graham in the box. We had some good things happen and some turnovers for points. That made the difference in the game; we had some things bounce right for us and then made some big plays.”
French Camp got the ball to start the second half and went 42 yards in five plays. Wright hit Hodge on a 24-yard touchdown pass with 8:21 left in the third. Churchill’s PAT was good, and French Camp led 28-12.
The Tigers turned the ball over on downs on their first possession of the second half, and French Camp answered with a five-play, 66-yard drive as Wright hit Avery Summers on a 20-yard touchdown pass with 2:31 left in the third. Churchill’s PAT was good, and French Camp held a commanding 35-12 lead.
But that’s when things started going south for the Panthers. Noxapater then responded with a five-play, 54-yard drive as Carter scored on a 1-yard run. Carter ran in the two-point conversion, and the Tigers cut the score to 35-20.
After swapping possessions to start the fourth quarter, Noxapater got a big break when Carter scooped up a French Camp fumble and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown. Carter also ran in the two-point conversion, and the Tigers trailed 35-28. On the ensuing possession, Wright threw an interception that Jy Riddle returned 40 yards for a touchdown. Carter ran in the two-point conversion and the Tigers took a 36-35 lead. French Camp turned the ball over on downs on the next possession when a fake punt failed. Two plays later, Carter scored on a 52-yard run for the final margin of 42-35.
Noxapater had 139 yards passing and 192 yards rushing. Kaden Carter was 11-of-22 passing for 139 yards. Emmanuel Carter had 104 yards rushing on 16 carries with four TDs. Jimmy Graham had 75 yards rushing on 15 carries. Keon Tucker led the defense with eight tackles while Riddle had seven solo tackles. Chris Dale, Emmanuel Carter, Vonta Triplett, and T.K. Wilson each had five tackles apiece while Ro Riddle had four tackles. Javion Eichelberger, J’Cameron Riley, Cooper McMullen, Ethan Yates, and Zach Jordan each had two tackles apiece.
The Panthers had another good offensive night with 413 yards of total offense with 152 rushing and 261 passing.
