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French Camp football coach Nathan Wright said it’s hard enough to stop a good football team from getting a first down on four tries, much less five.

In what Wright called a “crazy series of events,” Hamilton converted a fifth down in the last minute of the game and scored the game winner with 19.7 seconds left to take a 25-21 win on Friday night over the Panthers.

French Camp falls to 1-4 on the season and 0-1 in division play while Hamilton improves to 5-0 on the season.

In the debated series, French Camp turned the ball over on downs with about two minutes left in the game. A personal foul on Hamilton put the Lions at first and 25. A fourth-down pass fell incomplete but the yard sticks said Hamilton had another down. The Lions then completed a long pass and scored the game winner with 19.7 seconds left in the game to take the win.

“It was a crazy series of events,” Wright said. “They didn’t have a lot of time and essentially gave them five downs. We knew the yard stick was wrong and kept saying something to the guy on our side. The white hat even showed the correct down but when it came down to it, he gave them the extra down and they completed the big pass on fifth down. We have the video footage of it. The head official called our principal after the game and apologized for the mistake. We knew it was wrong but they never dealt with it during the game. As competitive as this district is, that may knock us out of the playoffs. It was a crazy series of events.”

Wright said the school sent the video to the Mississippi High School Activities Association and would appeal the game.

“We would have gotten the ball and taken a knee and the game would have been over,” Wright said. “We will appeal it the MHSAA and see what happens.”

Hamilton dominated the early action and led 13-0 midway through the second quarter. French Camp finally got on the board in the second on a 5-yard run by Ethan Wright. The PAT failed and the Lions led 13-6 at the half.

“As usual, we were slow getting starting and got behind early,” Wright said. “It was a defensive game for a long time. We got a punt blocked and that allowed them to go up 13-0. But our kids fought back and had all the momentum in the second half. We’ve just got to find a way to get a first down there and none of that ever happens.”

The Panthers came storming back in the second half as they scored two straight TDs. The first was a 3-yard run by Wright, who also ran in the two-point conversion to give French Camp a 14-13 lead. The second was an 11-yard run by Silas Hodge to go up 21-13.

Hamilton then scored to cut the margin to 21-19 and the Panthers had a chance to run the clock out late in the fourth before turning the ball over on downs near midfield.

“It was a good game, I just hate it ended the way it did,” Wright said. “We just made a bunch of mistakes. We just can’t be shard and be sound and that’s the frustrating part. We are at the point where 10 guys are doing it right and one is not where it might have been five guys doing it wrong earlier in the season. We are getting better. It’s just frustrating trying to get them over the hump. We will play hard and hope we continue to get better. They are trying and giving their best and that’s all we can hope for.”

Ethan Wright had 118 yards rushing on 20 carries with two TDs. Wright was also 7-of-11 passing for 79 yards. Hodge had 60 yards rushing on 12 carries while Avery Summer had four catches for 47 yards. Carson Philyaw had two catches for 26 yards.

On defense, Wright had 15 tackles with 14 solo stops and two tackles for loss. Hodge had 13 solo tackles and four assists while Aayden Ray had four solo tackles and seven assists. Logan Wright had six solo tackles and four assists while Rylan Moore had one solo tackle and nine assists. Summers and J.D. Leach each had three solo tackles and two assists.

Shurden caused two fumbles while Summers caused one. Moore had a fumble recovery and Max Bronson blocked a field goal. Hodge had four tackles for loss.

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