ETHEL – French Camp used some special teams magic in a 41-19 victory over Ethel. Offensively, the Panthers were outgained 264 to 219, but had three kick returns totaling 237 yards that resulted in touchdowns.
“Anytime you pick up an 89-yard kickoff return, a 69-yard punt return and a 79-yard kickoff return that eats up a lot of yardage,” said Panthers coach Nathan Wright.
Zach Gilmer returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for the first of his five TDs, giving the Panthers a quick 6-0 lead. Ethel led 7-6 at the half on a 52-yard Kendal Dotson to Jace Dean touchdown pass.
French Camp went back ahead 13-7 after a 69-yard punt return by Clayton Leathers led to a two-yard TD run by Holman Edwards.
The Panthers were threatening to increase the lead in the third quarter inside the Ethel 10, when Edwards was hit and fumbled as he attempted a handoff to Phillip Carradine. Dean picked up the loose ball and ran 95 yards for an Ethel touchdown, tying the game at 13-13.
“We missed a block,” Wright said. “The kid came straight through and hit Holman as he was exchanging the ball. It looked like we were going to score again and bam, it was tied up.”
Stephon Thompson returned the ensuing kickoff 79 yards, setting up a one-yard scoring run by Gilmer that put the Panthers ahead to stay. Gilmer added three more touchdowns on runs of 33, 4 and 15 yards, stretching the lead to 41-13 before Ethel scored a late TD on an 83-yard pass from Dotson to Izik Stewart.
“We started slowly on offense, but in the second half we did well,” Wright said. “Defensively, I felt we played our best game as a whole.”
Gilmer finished with 12 carries for 84 yards. Edwards completed five passes for 62 yards and netted 32 yards on the ground.
“I felt like Holman did a good job taking care of the ball even though he had one fumble. It's hard to put that on him.”
Defensively, he praised Thompson and Bradley Edwards. Thompson had six tackles, all for losses. Bradley Edwards and Leathers led the team in tackles with seven each. From his position in the secondary, Holman Edwards had an interception and a fumble recovery to go along with two tackles, including one behind he line.
The Panthers totaled 13 tackles for losses.
Dotson accounted for most of the offense for Ethel, which fell to 1-7 and 1-5 in the region. He threw for 185 yards and ran for 35.
French Camp is 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the nine-team Region 3-1A. That puts the Panthers in fourth place behind Nanih Waiya, 6-0, Noxapater, 5-0, and Leake County, 4-2.
French Camp was defeated by Nanih Waiya and Noxapater and will play Leake County the final regular season game November 2 that will likely decide third and fourth in the region. Before then, the Panthers have region games at home Friday against Hamilton and on the road next week with Sebastopol.
Hamilton is suffering through a down year with a 1-7 record and 0-5 in region play. “I'm kind of surprised about how they are doing. They have good size,” Wright said.
French Camp defeated Hamilton 42-0 last year.
The top four teams in the region will qualify for the playoffs beginning Nov. 9, but third and fourth place teams will have to go on the road in the opening round against teams from Region 4 in South Mississippi.
