French Camp had its best offensive football game of the season, but it wasn't enough against a high powered Tupelo Christian offense. In a back and forth game that produced nearly 900 yards of offense, Tupelo Christian pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 59-44 victory.
“There wasn’t much defense,” said French Camp coach Nathan Wright. “It was an exciting game for the fans.”
Tupelo Christian won because of sensational junior quarterback Khi Holiday who accounted for all seven Eagle touchdowns. He was 18 of 24 passing for 256 yards and five touchdowns and carried 24 times for 185 yards and two TDs.
Quarterback C.J. Johnson, running back Phillip Caradine and wide receiver Javen Anderson had big games for French Camp. Johnson completed eight passes for 142 yards and one touchdown, ran 16 times for 120 yards and two TDs and set up a touchdown with an 85-yard kickoff return. “He’s getting better,” Wright said.
Caradine had 15 carries for 81 yards and four TDs. Anderson had four receptions for 109 yards, including a 68-yard TD reception, and had a 44-yard kickoff return.
The game was close most of the way as the teams exchanged touchdowns. It was tied 38-38 in the fourth quarter and the Panthers were within one score at 52-44 in the fourth quarter. Holiday completed a third down pass to keep a drive alive that resulted in the clinching touchdown.
French Camp had its best game on defense a week earlier in a 20-14 overtime victory over Okolona. “I thought we were turning the corner until Friday night,” Wright said. “But really, we knew we have a huge weakness in the defensive backfield. We knew we were in trouble, and sure enough they hurt us.”
Three defenders who earned praise from Wright are linebacker Bradley Edwards and two-way linemen Seth Box and Logan Campbell.
For the season, Caradine has carried 69 times for 419 yards and 10 touchdowns. Johnson has thrown for 357 yards and two TDs and run for 302 yards and four scores. Anderson has 10 receptions for 226 yards and two TDs.
Holiday has totaled 2,062 yards and 29 TDs running and passing.
French Camp is 1-4, but 1-1 in Region 2-1A. Tupelo Christian is 4-1, 1-1.
It doesn’t get any easier for French Camp this week. The Panthers have a home region game with defending 1A state champion Nanih Waiya Friday. Nanih Waiya lost its first two games to larger schools, 2A Union and 4A West Lauderdale, equaling the Warriors’ total losses the past two seasons.
Nanih Waiya has won its last three, including a 67-28 victory over Tupelo Christian. The Warriors ran for 500 yards on only 27 carries in that game.
There is not much trickery about the Nanih Waiya offense. The Warriors just line up and try to run over opponents. “They have the horses to do it,” Wright said.
The Nanih Waiya offense is led by senior quarterback Donovan Turner and senior running back Shia Moore. Donovan has totaled 763 yards and 11 touchdowns running and passing. Moore has carries 44 times for 369 yards after running for 1,540 yards as a junior.
