By Angie Ledbetter
After winning round one of the Class 6A playoffs last week the undefeated South Panola Tigers will welcome the Clinton Arrows to Robert H. Dunlap Stadium tonight for the 6A quarterfinals.
The Arrows handed Grenada a 38-7 loss to advance and the Tigers shutout Northwest Rankin 32-0 to set up this heated battle between the No. 2 and No. 3 teams in the state.

The Tigers enter the game with a 12-0 overall and 7-0 division record while the Arrows have a 10-2 overall and a 6-1 division record.

The Arrows placed runner up in Region 2 behind the No. 1 team in the state, the Starkville Yellowjackets.

Head Coach Lance Pogue said, “Clinton is a very talented bunch with a lot of athletes that have a lot of speed.”

In division play the Arrows have outscored their opponents 291-177. They beat Madison Central 47-35, Columbus 41-17, Murrah 28-14, Northwest Rankin 28-21, Warren Central 14-13, Greenville 49-14, Starkville 56-46 and Grenada 38-7.

Pogue said, “Clinton is a really good team. They’re 10-2 and lost only one division game to Starkville which was very, very close.”

History
There is some playoff history between the teams. They have met seven times in the playoffs. South Panola won all but one when Clinton shut out the Tigers 22-0 in 2000 and went to become the state champion runner up.

In 1999 South Panola and Clinton met in the first round of playoffs and South Pnaola retired them 56-12. Tonight is the fifth time the teams have met in the second round. In 2004, they met in the north half.

Comparing
Comparing the two teams, Clinton averages 175.1 receiving yards per game and South Panola 150.3 yards. In rushing yards South Panola averages 289.3 yards per game and Clinton 184.
Clinton averages 46.1 tackles per game and South Panola 45.3. In sacks South Panola has 22 and Clinton has 17. South Panola has 21 interceptions and 69 touchdowns this season compared to Clinton’s seven interceptions and 53 touchdowns.

Leading the playmakers for Clinton is sophomore quarterback Cam Akers, 6’0”, 205 pounds.
Akers has completed 119 of 200 passes for 1,800 yards with 20 touchdowns thrown five interceptions.

Besides passing, Akers has 896 rushing yards on 166 carries with 17 touchdowns.

“Akers is an exceptional athlete who’s very fast,” Pogue said. “He’s obviously the most dangerous quarterback we’ve seen all year without a question. He’s a dual threat and those kinds of guys are dangerous. Everybody they’ve played, he’s been a difference maker and he makes their team go.”

Main receivers for Clinton are senior wide receivers T. J. Beverly and Rashaad Mosley and junior wide receiver Barrett Barham.

Beverly has 44 receptions for 634 yards and five touchdowns. Barham has 23 receptions for 469 yards and five touchdowns. Mosley has 29 receptions for 450 yards and two touchdowns.
“Clinton has a lot of receivers,” Pogue said. “Beverly is their big play maker and number one threat at receiver. He’s a small guy who’s really fast. He’s hit a lot of home runs for them because he is hard to tackle in open space.”

Along with Akers in the back field is sophomore running back Darius Maberry. He has a total of 586 yards on 82 carries and six touchdowns.  Senior running back Kendarius Harper has 529 yards on 93 carries and four touchdowns.

“Maberry and Harper are their one-two punch at running back,” Pogue said. “With Akers being such a running threat, those guys get a lot of opportunities because people key on Akers so much and that opens those guys up so they’ve piled up some yards this year.”
Leading the defense is senior linebacker Nic Chatman who has 73 total tackles. Other players to watch for on defense are Gideon Pierce with 59 tackles, Rachaad Toler with 57 and Roy Douglas with 54 tackles.

“Defensively, they’re really fast,” Pogue said. “They got into a shoot out with Starkville but throughout the year they have played really good defense.”

Pogue said the Tigers will prepare for Clinton by just keeping on going.

“We’re not a bad team ourselves being 12-0 and have won some big games this year,” he said. “We just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing and find ways to win. It’s getting down to the end now and the margin for error is very thin and the competition gets better. Clinton will be better than the team we played last week.”

Pogue said, “It’s a great opportunity for us and the winner goes to the north half. We’re one step closer so it’s a big game.”

The pregame show will begin at 6 p.m. on FM 100.5 with Pogue and kickoff is 7:00.

Tiger fans are asked to wear blue tonight and swag rags. The swag rags are for sale at the high school for $3 and will be sold at the game tonight.