Panthers claim fifth-straight victory
FRENCH CAMP – Looking for their fifth-straight win and sixth in district play, the French Camp Panthers hosted the Sebastopol Bobcats on Thursday.
In the most dominant fashion, French Camp downed Sebastopol 38-6.
“We played great, even though their guys threw us off with a few of the plays they ran,” French Camp coach Nathan Wright said. “We're peaking at just the right time and are very excited to go after that first round home playoff.
“If we just stick to the game plan and God's plan I believe that we'll be just fine going forward against Leake County next week.”
In the first quarter, the Panthers struck first as running back Kendall Coleman Jr darted down the sideline 80 yards for a score to put French Camp up 7-0 with 11:38 remaining in the opening frame. With 6:25 left in the first quarter, the Panthers drove deep into Bobcat territory but settled for a 22-yard field goal by Bradley McGlothlin and led 10-0 throughout the remainder of the quarter.
In the second quarter, Coleman Jr. continued to have a field day with his second score of the night from 61 yards out and the Panther lead grew to 17-0 with 11:47 left in the half.
“It's a real blessing to be able to come out and perform like this,” Coleman Jr said. “I'm very thankful for what I'm able to do and I thank God for all that he's blessed me with.
“Next week we're facing a pretty good running back from Leake County and we're just going to look to come out and dominate every play once again.”
With 4:05 left in the half quarterback Holman Edwards found fullback John Weeks for an 11-yard score as the lead grew to 24-0.
“It was a really good win and our guys stuck together and pulled out the victory,” Edwards said. “Next week, we face another good team (Leake County) and plan on going through a great week of practice and putting another win in the books.”
The Panther defense held strong throughout the first half and French Camp took the 24-point lead into the locker room at halftime.
In the third quarter, Edwards found a wide open Taiwan Cook from 42 yards out to extend the lead to 31-0 with 9:21 remaining in the period. With 4 minutes remaining in the period Sebastopol quarterback Austin Wilson was picked off by Coleman Jr., which led to a 33-yard touchdown pass from Edwards to receiver Colin Perry with 2:20 remaining in the period to extend the Panther lead to 38-0. With 1 minute left in the quarter, Wilson was picked off again by Coleman Jr. to give French Camp yet another possession that led to the final 15 minutes of play.
In the fourth quarter, Sebastopol avoided the shutout as quarterback Austin Wilson found receiver Sylvelle Longmire for a 17-yard score with 7 minutes left to play. The two-point conversion failed and the score remained 38-6. No more scoring occurred for the remainder of play and French Camp walked out in dominating fashion.
French Camp, which improved to 7-3 overall and 6-1 in Class A, Region 3 play, hosts Leake County next week in the regular season finale.