PCHS ends four-game skid with 34-12 Homecoming win over Carbon Hill
The Phil Campbell High School varsity football team (2-5, 2-3 Class 3A Region 5) jumped back into the win column with a Homecoming victory over region rival Carbon Hill (1-6, 0-5) last Thursday night, defeating the Bulldogs 34-12 to end a four-game losing skid.
Paired with all the homecoming festivities, the Bobcats faced a shortened week of preparation going into the matchup with Carbon Hill due to the school’s fall break. That could’ve hampered Phil Campbell’s prep, but head coach Jacob Hamilton said his guys were laser-focused for the contest.
“I just told them not to let all this homecoming stuff distract you,” the second-year coach said. “I felt like we had a great week of preparation, a great week of practice. I think our kids were locked in on the task at hand and understanding all this homecoming stuff isn’t as fun if you don’t get the homecoming win.
“We executed our game plan well. We didn’t play perfect by any means, but I thought we played really well and ultimately we got the win; that’s all you can ask for,” Hamilton added.
Phil Campbell got off to an inauspicious start on offense in the first quarter, fumbling on their opening two drives. However, the Bobcats were able to turn it around in the second quarter by scoring three unanswered touchdowns and jumping out to a 22-0 lead at the halftime break.
“I told (the players) before the game, we can’t lose the turnover battle and win the game. We’ve struggled with that all year,” Hamilton said. “Ultimately we were able to settle in, lock in, and get the pregame jitters out of the way. We got big stops on defense and were able to pound it with the run to get that 22-0 lead at halftime—that was huge.
“We’ve been behind all year,” he added. “We haven’t jumped up on anybody, so it was nice to be able to do that, and it was one of the main reasons why we won the game.”
The visitors pulled a touchdown back after halftime, but Phil Campbell responded with another two touchdowns—one in the third and one in the fourth quarter—to extend the lead to 28 points.
Carbon Hill added a consolation touchdown in the waning minutes of the game, but it was too little, too late for the visitors, and the Bobcats celebrated a comfortable three-score victory.
“Not giving (the lead) up (in the second half) and then understanding where we are and what we need to do, it was great,” Hamilton said.
It was a bittersweet moment for some of the Phil Campbell players. With the Bobcats closing the regular season out on three consecutive road trips, for the seniors on the team the result represented a final homecoming win and a victory in their last game at Parrish Stadium.
“We have a wonderful senior class,” Hamilton said. “They’ve worked really hard and really set the standard for working hard and trying to accomplish what we’re trying to accomplish as a program in building a long-sustaining, successful program at Phil Campbell.
“It’s unfortunate that we’ve had to deal with the injuries we’ve had this year—two of those guys are seniors. But they’ve had positive attitudes and even though the season hasn’t gone the way we’ve wanted it to, we still have a chance to end on a high note if we keep working and keep pursuing our goals,” he added. “That’s what I can say about this senior class: they never go down without a fight, they always keep their heads on straight, and look at the positive side and continue to put in the work.
“Here at Phil Campbell those guys have set that standard and set that example, and they continue to work hard no matter what adversity comes their way.”
In the game against Carbon Hill, then, it was fitting that the player of the game was a senior. Hayden Wingo, who has taken on a heavier workload after the injury losses of fellow seniors Noah Raper and Braxton Mayfield, rushed for 160 yards and scored four of Phil Campbell’s five touchdowns against the Bulldogs.
“He’s a great football player, and he’s really special with the ball in his hands,” Hamilton said of Wingo, who leads the team with over 900 yards of total offense this season. “We had a three-headed monster of him, Noah Raper, and Braxton Mayfield, but you look up about week three we’ve lost Noah and Braxton due to injuries; so, he’s done a great job of carrying the load, making plays on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively, and still excelling at his game and doing what he does best, which is running the football.
“He had a great game. I’m really proud of him. It was his last game at Parrish Stadium, his last homecoming, and he went out with a bang,” Hamilton added.
Up next, Phil Campbell will travel to Gordo (7-1, 4-1), currently the second-place team in the Region 5 standings and the No. 6 team in Class 3A. It will be a tough road challenge for the Bobcats against the Green Wave, who won 56-6 in their first ever meeting last season, but Hamilton said his team is going to take the game play-by-play and see what unfolds.
“We’ve played some tough competition, and we have a tough schedule. We know Gordo is very good competition, and we have a lot of respect for Gordo,” he said. “From last year’s game we know that they’re athletic and they’re fast and they’re a really good football team. What we can do is focus on ourselves and take it one play at a time. The message we’re preaching is to not necessarily look at the scoreboard and not worry about the plays that are ahead but worry about the play that we’re in right now and try to beat somebody on that play.”
With just three games remaining this year, Hamilton, happy with the efforts of his players and staff, said the Bobcats are going to continue to make the most of the cards handed to them.
“At this point in the season, with the injuries we’ve been dealt, all we can do is focus on ourselves, and that’s what we’ve been doing,” Hamilton added. “I’m really proud of our guys for doing that, proud of our coaches for continuing to work hard, and doing all that we can to still make this season a successful one for these seniors and the future of this program.”