HSFT20 Stop #7 — French Camp Panthers

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CLASS 1A | REGION 2
HEAD COACH: Nathan Wright
Aug 21 Winona Christian Away
Aug 28 Starkville Academy Away
Sept 4 Eupora Home
Sept 11 Okolona* Home
Sept 18 TCPS* Home
Sept 25 Nanih Waiya* Away
Oct 2 West Lowndes* Home
Oct 9 Noxapater* Away
Oct 16 OPEN
Oct 23 Hamilton* Away
Oct 30 Vardaman* Home
Nov 6 Smithville* Away
*District games

FRENCH CAMP, Miss. (WCBI) — With experience comes comfortability.

Experience is what the French Camp Panthers bring into the 2020 season.

“We have a lot of guys that are returning,” head coach Nathan Wright said. “Quarterback returning is always a nice thing, CJ is coming back. A lot of the lineman we had last season were young. A lot of the team was very young last year.”

That younger squad finished the 2019 season with a 3-8 overall record. However, a couple of those games came down to just one possession.

The match-up against West Lowndes came down to a single point, 32-31, and that’s just one example.

“That was a big obstacle. There were several games, not just that one where we were just right there and just needed to make a play and we couldn’t make that play. We’ve got to find a way on the coaching end to present challenges so when that shows up we’re the team that makes the play and not the other team,” Wright said.

The Panthers are looking to be a strong offensive presence in 1A ball. Senior quarterback Calvin Johnson returns following a breakout season in his ground attack, picking up over 1100 yards rushing with 15 touchdowns.

“We’ve got CJ returning, a couple of receivers returning, a pretty experienced offensive line. The guys that are new are pretty good. So, I expect us to be a little better there. Having said that we still haven’t found a running back and a running back is always huge for your offense. Defensively we have a lot of guys that like to get after it,” Wright said.

While getting his team up to speed is the main focus for Wright and his team, he says that the biggest challenge the Panthers will face this season is an opponent every team is faced with: the coronavirus.

“That’s proven to be difficult with how we’re trying to do things here. We’ll see how all of that looks. That’s obviously going to be a new obstacle that nobody has dealt with and we’re going to have to learn a little bit at a time in dealing with that.

Despite any uncertainty, the Panthers continue to prepare for the season opener on the road at Winona Christian on August 21st.

 

Categories: 2020 High School Football Tour, High School Sports, Local Sports, Sports

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