A quick glance at the final stat sheet, and one might think Lamar County handled the Phil Campbell Bobcats Friday night. The Bulldogs outgained the Bobcats, held the ball for almost 10 more minutes and ran 13 more plays. As coaches will say, however, the only stat that matters is the final score: Phil Campbell 30, Lamar County 24.

“We made a lot of mistakes early with turnovers and missed assignments,” said Phil Campbell Coach Kevin Barnwell. “We hung in there and made some adjustments, especially on the defensive side of the ball. We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot early on.”

After fumbling the opening snap of the game, quarterback Kyle Pace dropped back and hit Braxton Goodson in stride for a 74-yard touchdown pass. Noah Raper added the two-point conversion run to give the Bobcats an 8-0 lead.

From there, Lamar County scored 18 unanswered points.

Phil Campbell finally got some life in the final seconds of the third quarter on a 25-yard touchdown run by Bryant Hyde. Raper’s two-point conversion run cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 18-16 going into the fourth quarter.

Phil Campbell took the lead when Raper broke through a crowd of Lamar County defenders and sprinted to the endzone for a 48-yard scoring run.

Hyde’s two–point conversion run gave the Bobcats a 30-18 lead with 4:37 to go in the game.

Lamar County scored on a quick drive late in the fourth quarter to pull within a touchdown, but the Bobcats recovered an on–side kick to seal the win.

Jeitt Traywick led the Bobcat defense with 10 tackles.

Phil Campbell hosts Elkmont in the region opener Thursday night at 7 p.m.