That homecoming winless streak came to an end Friday night as the Cougars sent a message to the Mark Palmer with a 37-6 win.

The Cougars scored all their points in the first half and took a 37-0 lead into halftime.

The Cougars were at first down and 10 on their second possession. Robert Glover connected with Dexter Thomas on a 65-yard touchdown reception to give the Cougars the first score of the evening and bring the capacity Cougar crowd to its feet.

A.J. Johnson’s extra point was good to give the Cougars a 7-0 lead with 8:45 left in the first quarter.

Clayton has moved the ball down the field for the Tigers very well this past season, but had not quite got it across the line. He was close in New Orleans and I told him I had my hand poised over my notebook to write his name down for a TD. He just laughed.

This week I got to fill in the blank. Not only for Clayton but for Hunter Coy and for Connie Shegog on the defense. Connie said I never put him in the paper. Honestly, I don’t have defensive stats when I need them then I forget to get them later.

But going into the district season, we’ll be getting them to the public.

South Panola has done very well in the non-conference season. For 5A teams, that is the first four games. Other districts have one or two under their belts.

Actually, they have done better than expected. Most people knew the team would come in strong, reload from last year and play solid football.

This Tiger team is playing exceptionally well. No, they are not playing perfect. They don’t play perfect in the professional league. You can’t expect perfection in the high school league, but the Tigers are putting out some solid numbers.

Now, who would have expected a 75 point game from the Tigers over Greenville? Probably not a person in the state including the Tigers themselves. They would probably brag and tell you they expected it, but not really.

In the past, pass defense has been one of the weaknesses of the Tiger team. People with strong passing games bragged how they would win the game because the Tigers couldn’t defend the pass.

Those are braggings of the past. The Tigers didn’t even need the offensive scoring Friday night. The defensive scoring would have won the game.

Four interceptions, three returned for touchdowns, beats a nine-point opponent score.

What’s funny is that the Tigers were not even trying to run up the score. But the players are taught to take advantage of mistakes and breakdowns on the opposing team.

The backup teams have gotten a lot of game experience this year. Looks good for the future Tiger team.

Well, the Tigers have scored 225 points the first four games this season and only gave up 31.

The second part of the season starts Friday night and three 1-5A teams are in the top 20. It should make for an interesting seven more games.

The South Panola Tigers continue to run flat foot over their opponents.

Greenville-Weston Hornets were the last non-conference opponents whose stingers were ripped by the claws of the Tigers.

South Panola (4-0) downed the Hornets 75-9 last Friday night without much effort.

The Tiger offense scored eight touchdowns – seven rushing and the defense scored three touchdowns off of interceptions.

Germichael Sanford, starting tailback in for Marcus Griffin, led the scoring with three touchdowns on 102 yards on six carries.

Quarterback Derek Pegues was the leading rusher with 117 yards on five carries and one touchdown.

Also scoring for the Tigers were Clayton Morgan, Hunter Coy and Ricky Sanford.

Pegues connected with Travis Sanford for a 23-yard touchdown reception.

Scoring on defense were Connie Shegog on a 20-yard interception return, Mario Bobo on a 42 yard touchdown return and Richard Mitchell with his fourth interception of the year on a 48 yard return.

Cedric Wright also had an interception for the Tigers.

It was a beautiful night with the weather being in the mid sixties and the crowd was there to see Lindsay Thomas be crowned the 2003 Homecoming Queen on Friday, September 19, 2003. The Green Wave lost to rival 3A Indianola Colonels in a close battle 9-6. The Green Wave falls to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in district play.

The first half was a defensive battle for both teams. With 9:05 in the first quarter, the Colonels fumbled the ball and Patrick Ellis recovered it for the Green Wave on their own 15 yard line. The Green Wave had to punt the ball after not being able to get a first down or move the ball down the field, however they stopped the Colonels from scoring.

In the second quarter, the Green Wave were trying to score. On second down and nine the ball was intercepted by Indianola on the 20 yard line with 54.8 seconds on the clock. With 27.9 seconds, the Colonels punted the ball 55 yards to end the first half.

To start the third quarter, the Green Wave punted the ball 50 yards. A few plays later, the Colonels fumbled the ball on the 20 yard line and Dustin Maples recovered it for the Green Wave.

With 3:37 on the clock, Maples ran 16 yards into the endzone for the first score of the night. The extra point kick failed and the Green Wave led 6-0.

The fourth quarter started with a Scott Powers interception on third down and 12 and returned the ball to the 43 yard line.