Phil Campbell wins second straight region game, beats Colbert County 34-26

The Phil Campbell High School varsity football team, following an 0-3 start, has won two consecutive region games on the bounce after beating Colbert County 34-26 on Friday night.

After swapping scores for three quarters, Phil Campbell got the two-score advantage it needed to secure the home victory and improve the Bobcats’ record to 2-3 and 2-1 in Class 2A Region 7.

“It’s a huge win for us against a really good football team—a big, fast and physical football team,” Phil Campbell head coach Jacob Hamilton told the Franklin Free Press. “I’m very proud of my guys for the way they played tonight and for the way they continue to compete every week.”

The Bobcats opened the scoring in the first quarter on a long, 43-yard touchdown rush by senior quarterback Hayston Scott, who would account for four total touchdowns—three rushing and one passing—in the contest.

“He had a big night for us,” Hamilton said of Scott. “He’s starting to get his mojo back, and he’s playing like he’s supposed to.”

The visitors responded early in the second quarter with a short touchdown run, cutting the Bobcats lead to 7-6 after the failed point-after attempt.

The two teams would go on to combine for four more touchdowns in the second quarter, taking the game into halftime tied up 20-20. PCHS running back Braxton Downey raced 52 yards to the endzone for the Bobcats’ second score; Scott then connected with senior receiver Austin Elliott for a 40-yard touchdown strike before the break.

Just like in the first half, Phil Campbell came out to score first in the third quarter. With 6:09 left in the third Scott, who finished the game with 204 rushing yards, dashed 22 yards for his second touchdown on the ground. Scott’s 11th touchdown of the campaign made it 27-20.

The Bobcats scored their final touchdown in the fourth quarter—Scott again, this time an 11-yard run—to give them a 34-20 lead.

Phil Campbell’s second-half shutout held until the final 40 seconds when the Indians answered with a short touchdown run to pull the visitors back within eight points; however, the ensuing onside kick attempt was unsuccessful, and the Bobcats were able to kneel on it to close the game out, 34-26.

“Both teams adjusted well in the second half, but our guys kept pushing and fighting,” Hamilton said.

“It was a good ball game, and it was a great night in Phil Campbell,” he added.

After a rough start to the campaign, it appears the Bobcats have begun to find their form as the regular season hits the halfway point.

“We made mental errors (in the first three games) and turnovers were huge. Protecting the ball was an issue, so we’ve been stressing that,” Hamilton said. “We knew we played against Lexington the way we should’ve played. Give credit to Lexington for coming back and winning that game, but we knew we were close and we couldn’t let another one slip away like that.

“We had a great week of practice for the J.B. (Pennington) game and had an even better week of practice this past week for Colbert County, and it showed,” he added.

“We’ve got a very tough schedule. But we’ve gotten better and better each week, and it’s been huge for our kids to see improvement week in and week out, stay together, be locked in and fight through adversity.”

Hamilton believes his players can use the confidence built up over their last two games to power them through the rest of the campaign.

“We’ve gotten our confidence back, we’re getting our mojo back and we never quit,” he said. “We’ve got a bye week coming up, so we get a chance to (recuperate), and then it’s the back half stretch of the season.

“We’re going to fight our best. Our goal is to continue to get hot and host a playoff game,” Hamilton added. “We’re getting hot, we’ve just got to keep pouring gas on this fire.”

After an off week, Phil Campbell returns to action with a region game at Winston County on Friday, October 2.