Bobcats suffer close loss to Lauderdale County
The Phil Campbell Bobcats posted their best offensive performance in years against a quality team Friday night. In the end, though, it was still not enough to overcome an equally impressive offensive performance by the Lauderdale County Tigers, who defeated the Bobcats 52-47 in one of the most thrilling games played at Phil Campbell in well over a decade.
It was the two schools’ first meeting since the playoffs in 1993.
How thrilling was it? Both teams scored in the first minute of the game. Both teams had huge fourth-down conversions in the final two minutes of the game. There was a clutch extra point after a 40-minute injury delay late in the game. There were 816 total yards in offense and 97 points. The last five possessions of the game all resulted in touchdowns – and yes, there was some defense too, especially two big fourth-down stops by the Bobcats.
“That’s a tough way to lose a game, but I am extremely proud of our guys,” said Phil Campbell coach Kevin Barnwell. “They have proved what they are made of the past two weeks. They have fought to the end. They haven’t quit. They show up every day ready to work and ready to get better, and that’s all I can ask.
“There are good things coming – I promise.”
There were also some impressive individual performances. Phil Campbell’s Trey Leindecker scored five rushing touchdowns of 33, 53, 15, 74 and nine yards. Luke Barnwell completed 18 of 28 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns. Ridge Raper caught nine passes for 146 yards and a touchdown and hit the clutch extra point late in the game to give Phil Campbell a 47-46 lead with a minute and a half to play.
“Everyone played well tonight,” said Barnwell. “Those three guys – Luke, Trey and Ridge – made some big plays for us tonight, but it was a team effort all the way around.”
Kameron Jones for Lauderdale County rushed for 176 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Micheal Brown had 194 yards rushing and two touchdowns for the Tigers.
Phil Campbell struck first in the slugfest on a 33-yard touchdown run by Leindecker. A two-point conversion pass from Barnwell to Nate Owens gave the Bobcats a quick 8-0 lead.
Lauderdale County responded with a two-play, 64-yard drive to tie the game 8-8 just 50 seconds into the game.
Phil Campbell had a nice kickoff return but fumbled the ball. Lauderdale County drove the ball inside the 20-yard line, but the Bobcats stopped the Tigers on fourth down.
Midway through the second quarter, Phil Campbell had a nice drive stopped by a Lauderdale County interception. Two plays later, the Bobcats returned the favor when Blaine Goodson picked off a Tiger pass.
Phil Campbell made Lauderdale County pay two plays later when Leindecker scored from 53 yards out to make the score 15-8 with 5:14 to go in the first half.
Lauderdale County answered with a 10-play, 44-yard touchdown drive to take a 16-15 lead.
The Bobcats were not to be outdone. A short kick off and a personal foul call put Phil Campbell in scoring position. Barnwell connected with Raper for a 25-yard touchdown pass with seven seconds left on the clock to give the Bobcats a 21-16 halftime lead.
“They just flat outplayed us in the first half,” said Lauderdale County coach Jeff Mason. “They had a good game plan, and they have some good playmakers on the offensive side of the football.”
Lauderdale County reclaimed the lead, 24-21, with an eight-play, 56-yard drive ending with a 25-yard touchdown run to start the second half.
The Bobcats answered once again with a six-play, 52-yard drive ending with a Leindecker 12-yard touchdown run. Raper added the PAT to make the score 28-24 with 6:20 remaining in the third quarter.
Late in the third quarter, Phil Campbell stopped another Lauderdale County drive when Austen Baker caused a Tiger fumble, which was picked up by Goodson – his second big defensive play of the night.
Once again, the Bobcats made the Tigers pay. Barnwell threw a lateral pass to Leindecker, who took it 74 yards to pay dirt with 3:34 to go in the third quarter, giving the Bobcats a 34-24 lead.
Lauderdale County returned the kick off to the 50-yard line. After a big 42-yard run to the Phil Campbell eight-yard line, the Tigers punched the ball into the end zone to cut the Bobcats’ lead to 34-32.
Lauderdale County reclaimed the lead 38-34 with 8:50 to go in the game.
Phil Campbell answered with a 10-play drive, aided by a couple of big Lauderdale County penalties. Leindecker capped off the drive with nine-yard touchdown run to give Phil Campbell a 40-38 lead with 3:36 to go in the game.
The lead didn’t last long, as Lauderdale County returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards for a touchdown, taking a 46-40 lead with 3:25 remaining in the game.
Not to be denied, Phil Campbell answered again. Facing fourth-and-10, Barnwell connected with Raper on a nice back-shoulder throw for a 27-yard gain to the 24-yard line. On the next play Barnwell, chased out of the pocket, rolled right and lobbed a pass 24 yards to a wide-open Trent Gonzalez in the end zone to tie the game 46-46 with 1:31 to go in the game.
On the play, Lauderdale County’s Carson Harbin suffered a spinal injury that would delay the game for about 40 minutes while Air Evac landed on the field to rush him to the hospital. Lauderdale County High School tweeted Saturday that Harbin suffered a bruised spinal cord from a stinger – the best-case scenario.
After the long delay, Raper skidded the extra point just across the goal post to give Phil Campbell a 47-46 lead with 1:31 to go in the game.
Unfortunately for the Bobcats, Lauderdale County had its second straight big kick-off return. This one went 52 yards to the Phil Campbell two-yard line. After a couple of negative plays and run back to the two-yard line, the Tigers faced a game-deciding fourth-and-goal. Lauderdale County’s quarterback Michael Brown powered his way into the end zone behind his big offensive line for the game-winning touchdown.
Phil Campbell (2-5) will travel to East Lawrence (1-6) Friday night.
