Wingo eclipses 1,000 yard mark in Bobcats’ 57-22 blowout of Hanceville

A much-needed victory paired with an individual milestone had the Phil Campbell High School varsity football team (3-6, 3-4) feeling pretty good after Friday night’s road contest. The Bobcats, in their Class 3A Region 5 finale, traveled to Hanceville (1-8, 1-6) and muzzled the Bulldogs in a 57-22 blowout, earning PCHS its third win of 2024.

“We were able to pounce on ‘em and with the momentum going our way we were able to jump up on ‘em and take care of the game,” second-year Phil Campbell head coach Jacob Hamilton said. “We were having fun (Friday) night.”

The Bobcats got off to a flying start in just a handful of plays, scoring three touchdowns in the first seven minutes to run up an initial 24-0 advantage. Logan Cooper, a junior, dashed in from short yardage to put the Bobcats up 8-0 after the two-point conversion. A long, 69-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Hayston Scott to junior Hagen Raper on the first play from scrimmage on the Bobcats’ next drive made it 16-0, and then senior running back Hayden Wingo scored the first of his three touchdowns with just over five minutes to play in the first quarter to increase PCHS’ lead to 24 points.

Wingo, who finished Friday night with 339 yards rushing, eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season during the contest. Averaging 28.3 yards-per-carry against the Bulldogs, Wingo accounted for over half of Phil Campbell’s 591 yards of total offense against Hanceville.

“(Hanceville) was running a three-man front and the holes were really opening up for him,” Hamilton said. “If you look at (the stats) through nine games, he’s averaging 11.1 yards per carry, and that, to me, is the biggest thing. That’s an impressive stat—probably the most impressive stat to me.

“Rushing for 1,000 yards is a great accomplishment and the offensive line is a huge part of that. (Wingo) will be the first to tell you that he couldn’t do it without his offensive line blocking for him and opening up holes for him,” Hamilton added. “He’s an unselfish player, a great player, a special player, and no one deserves it more than him.

“Hayden Wingo is a very special kid, and I’m super proud to coach him and I love him to death. He had a great night, and we hope he continues it next week and in the future because I think he can be playing on Saturdays.”

Hanceville pulled a touchdown back early in the second quarter to cut Phil Campbell’s lead to 24-8, but the Bobcat offense was still just getting started. The visitors doubled their lead over the next two quarters, scoring 27 unanswered points to land at the 51-8 scoreline. Scott and Wingo added two rushing touchdowns each during that period of play before a six-yard rush by junior Dylan Barber early in the fourth quarter capped the scoring for Phil Campbell.

Up 57-15, the hosts added one more score to cut into the Bobcats’ lead, but with under two minutes left to play it was much too late for any kind of comeback in the game PCHS dominated. While the Phil Campbell offense produced nearly 600 yards, the Bobcat defense allowed under 300.

“There are times when we get undisciplined, but I think our defense had a great night. We played team defense (Friday) night,” Hamilton said.

The result puts Phil Campbell back in the win column following a defeat at the hands of top 10-ranked Gordo the previous Friday. Hamilton told the Franklin Free Press following the team’s victory over Carbon Hill on October 10th, PCHS’ final home game, that, with the Bobcats eliminated from playoff contention, the squad’s focus was on ending the campaign on a high note. Winning, of course, is the best way to do that.

The ultimate way to close the season for Phil Campbell now would be to get a final victory over rival Red Bay, which hosts the Bobcats at Tiger Stadium on November 1st. Pulling one over on their county adversary and winning three of their final four games would be just the tonic for Phil Campbell after a tough season that hasn’t gone exactly to plan. But that feat won’t be an easy one.

“We’ve got one game left now. We really want to end it on a good note and going out and having a lot of fun; and there’s nothing more fun than winning,” Hamilton said. “Playing hard, playing all the way through every snap. Every snap is one less that you’ll ever get to take if you’re one of these seniors. These seniors will never get to play in Parrish Stadium again, but they still have another game wearing that Phil Campbell uniform. Focusing on ourself, focusing on our team and playing team football and going out on a good note is absolutely our goal right now.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Coach Childers at Red Bay. Their season hasn’t gone how they probably thought it would go, but they’ve got some athletes on that team. They’ve got some guys that are threats and can cause headaches. But we also know that we’ve got a lot of good athletes, too,” Hamilton added. “This game against Red Bay, it’s a rivalry that means a lot, so not getting too caught up in that will be key. We still have to do our job and play hard and the biggest thing for us will be just doing what we do and playing through the whistle. If we do our job and play hard, when we look up at the scoreboard at the end of the game, it’s going to go our way.”