By Bart Moss for the FCT

The Phil Campbell Bobcats opened up a 6-0 lead over rival Hackleburg but couldn’t hold on, losing to the Panthers 26-12. It was both teams’ warm-up for first round playoff appearances Friday night.

Phil Campbell scored first on a 13-yard pass from Tristan Godsey to Noah Williams. Hackleburg, however, rolled off 26 unanswered points to cruise to the win. The Panthers scored three straight touchdowns in the third quarter on runs of eight, 16 and 10 yards by Kristian Jones.

Phil Campbell scored its final touchdown on a 76-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Thomas to Godsey.

Thomas completed 14 of 26 passes for 229 yards and one touchdown in the game. Godsey caught five passes for 99 yards and touchdown. Godsey also passed for a touchdown. Austin Riner caught five passes for 103 yards. Noah Williams caught four passes for 41 yards.

Phil Campbell will travel Tanner Thursday night to take on the top-ranked Rattlers in the opening round of the Class 2A playoffs.