By Austin Bishop
As huge as the last three weeks have been for the French Camp Academy Panthers, the next two could be just as important.
FCA rolled to a convincing 32-0 win over Region 3-1A foe Noxapater on Friday night to move to 4-2 overall and 3-2 in league play.
In three weeks the Panthers play host to Choctaw County-rival Weir in a game that could determine which team finishes second in Region 3-1A and earns a first-round home game in the MHSAA Class 1A playoffs.
But first, the Panthers have to take care of business.
"We need to do what we are supposed to do the next two weeks," FCA head coach said about his team's back-to-back league games against a pair of winless teams — Thomastown and Edinburg.
"We need to keep playing well and generate some good momentum going into the last two games of the season," Wright said. "We have been playing well, but we are not in a position to overlook anyone."
Josh Hardin rushed for 176 yards on just 16 carries to lead the Panthers in the win over homestanding Noxapater, while Justin Anderson had six carries for 87 yards and Jesse Hosket hit on 10-of-13 passes for 185 yards.
The winners took a 14-0 lead over Noxapater after one quarter of play thanks to a 69-yard touchdown run by Josh Hardin, a 4-yard scoring run by Jovon Turner — who rushed for 70 yards on seven carries — and a pair of extra point kicks by Denny Johnson.
The winners pushed that lead out to 20-0 at the half thanks to a 2-yard scoring by Hardin. French Camp scored second-half touchdowns on a 1-yard run by Turner and a 7-yard pass from Hoskett to Aro Nebk.
Ben Hosket had three catches for 33 yards for FCA, while Chris Nickson had two catches for 75 yards and Nebk had two for 66 yards. Anderson had one catch for 11 yards.
Defensively Grady Henderson led the way with eight tackles, while Bangali Sillah had seven tackles, including three for a loss and a sack.
DESOTO 28, WCS 8
DeSoto School, the defending MAIS Class A State Champion, scored 20 fourth-quarter points to pull out a 28-8 win over visiting Winona Christian School on Friday night.
Winona's lone score came on a 45-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Shawn Pee. Walker Jackson ran in the two-point conversion. The game was tied 8-8 at the half.
The last two DeSoto scores came as the result of turnovers, giving the Thunderbirds the edge they needed to take the win.
Pee led WCS with 31 rushing yards on 12 carries, while Jackson hit on 6-of-12 passes for 56 yards and Pee, Rex Bingham and Ryan Rogers had two catches each.
Rett Dyre led Winona on defense with seven tackles, while Bingham, Steven Johnson and Ben Bowman had six each. Michael Rawson and Garrett Dismukes had five stops each for the Stars. Pee and Jackson each recorded an interception, while Dyre had three sacks and Bingham one.
Winona Christian, ranked No. 3 in the state in MAIS Class A by the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, hosts Deer Creek on Friday night.
HUMPHREYS 14
CENTRAL HOLMES 6
The Trojans of Central Holmes Christian School dropped a heart-breaking 14-6 overtime decision to visiting Humphreys Academy on Friday night.
Humphreys used a 76-yard run in the first quarter to take a 6-0 lead, but Jay Murtagh scored on a 24-yard run for CHCS to tie the game at 6-6 at the half. The touchdown was set up by a 30-yard completion from Murtagh to C.W. Bishop.
Humphreys scored on a 2-yard run, then tacked on the conversion in overtime, before holding Central Holmes out of the end zone to take the win.
Murtagh rushed for 43 yards on 18 carries and hit on 9-of-15 passes for 133 yards. Bishop had four catches for 74 yards, while Wade Self led the CHCS defense with 14 tackles. Cameron Dixon had nine stops, while Ben Court added eight, Bailey Pepper six and Bishop five. Dixon recovered two fumbles for the Trojans.
Central Holmes plays host to Strider on Friday.
ACKERMAN 31,
EAST WEBSTER 0
Going into Friday night's 31-0 win over homestanding East Webster, Ackerman High School head football coach Adam Dillinger was just looking for a good, solid performance out of his Indians.
That's just what he got, as his No. 3-ranked team picked up nearly 400 yards of offense on a sloppy field to move to 7-0 overall and more importantly 2-0 in Region 2-2A play.
Ackerman jumped out to a 19-0 lead and then milked precious time off the clock as the offense pounded the East Webster defense.
The signature drive of the night came on Ackerman's second possession of the second half. The Indians moved the ball 86 yards on a whopping 18 plays and took a 25-0 lead when John Cummings scored on a 4-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter. East Webster only had three offensive snaps in the third quarter.
"We did a good job of controlling the ball in the second half," said AHS head coach Adam Dillinger. "The best defense is a good offense. They didn't get to have the ball for a long time, so that makes a difference."
Levias Simmons led the Ackerman offensive attack with 106 rushing yards on 11 carries, while Shawn Stricklin had 15 carries for 86 yards and also caught four passes for 57 more yards.
Andrew Furr rushed for 56 yards on 11 attempts and hit on 9-of-21 passes for 123 yards for the Indians. Cummings had two catches for 26 yards, while Josh Brown had two for 24 and Brown one for 21.
The Indians took a 7-0 lead on their first possession, moving the ball 57 yards on just six plays with Stricklin scoring on a 4-yard run with 7:39 left in the quarter. Long was good with the point after kick.
After Charles Corley recovered an East Webster fumble, AHS put together an 11-play, 65-yard drive that saw Furr hit Brown with a 13-yard scoring pass to put the winners up 13-0 with 1:44 left in the first quarter.
Ackerman's last touchdown of the first half was set up by a 48-yard punt return by Cummings, who gave the Indians possession of the ball at the East Webster 5-yard line. Three plays later Simmons scored on a 3-yard run to give Ackerman its 19-0 halftime advantage.
The last AHS score of the game was on a 1-yard run by Stricklin with 2:32 left to play.
Next up for Ackerman is a home game with 5-2 West Lowndes Friday at 7, followed by an Oct. 23 trip to Hamilton and an Oct. 30 road game with Eupora to end the regular season.
