Tigers wrap up Horn Lake

By Brad Greer
There are very few times when a punter can be a major factor in the outcome of a football game, but South Panola’s Montray Blackburn was the exception in the Tigers 7-0 Region 1-6A win over previously undefeated Horn Lake Friday night at Robert H. Dunlap Stadium.
With South Panola’s offense stuck in neutral all night, Blackburn kept the Horn Lake offense pinned down in their own territory with eight punts, three of which landed inside the 20 for a 41.5 yard average.
Not to be outdone, the Tiger defense played a key in the shutout by limiting an Eagle offense that entered the contest averaging nearly 36 points per game.
“Without a doubt, Montray played a huge role in this victory tonight. There  were numerous times we were backed up deep in our own territory and he got us out of the hole and switched field position drastically which made them have to move the ball on our defense,” said South Panola head coach Lance Pogue.
The only score of the night came on the Tigers’ opening possession as quarterback Patrick Shegog hit Jordan Strong in stride for a 43-yard touchdown pass to complete a four-play, 41-yard drive with 7:01 remaining in the first quarter. Blaine Ware added the point after. The drive was aided by a roughing-the-punter penalty that moved the ball to the Horn Lake 41.
The rest of the night turned into a punting contest as both teams combined for 12 punts in the first half alone.
Horn Lake’s lone first half scoring threat came midway through the second quarter as the Eagle drove to South Panola’s 42 but was halted as defensive linemen Eriq Kitchen came away with a one-handed interception.
South Panola’s defense turned away four Horn Lake drives inside Tiger territory in the second half including the game-winning stop with 28 seconds left to play in the game as sophomore defensive back Stedarious Sanford broke up a fourth down pass at the Tiger 13 to seal the win.
South Panola meanwhile garnered only 124 total yards of offense and crossed midfield twice after their lone score in the first quarter.
“I’ve got to give credit to a much improved Horn Lake team. They fought us hard and did some good things. But I am proud of my guys because we have been through some hard times this season. We could have said ‘Oh no here we go again’ but I thought we played our guts out on defense and kept making the key stop especially there at the end of the game. That just goes to show what kind of heart these kids have gotten in them,” said Pogue.
Horn Lake (5-1, 0-1) led the statistical battle with 12 first downs compared to seven for South Panola. The Eagles registered 122 yards rushing on 49 carries and 97 yards through the air for 219 yards total.
South Panola (2-4; 1-0) meanwhile garnered 76 yards rushing and 48 passing.
Jamien Johnson led the way with 15 carries for 24 yards while Markel Gleaton added eight carries for 24 yards. Jamichael Robinson chipped in with six carries for five yards. Gerrian Key has one carry for 18 yards. Strong registered three catches for 48 yards.
A. J. Polk led the South Panola defense with seven tackles and a fumble recovery. Jeterrion Draper and James Johnson chipped in with six stops each. D. J. Hall and O’Bryan Goodson supplied five tackles while Kitchen  and Tramell Thomas each registered four stops.
South Panola hits the road Friday to take on Olive Branch who fell to 0-6 on the year with a 26-3 loss to Southaven.