By Angie Ledbetter
The South Panola Tigers climbed up the ladder to win No. 78 by defeating Grenada 40-2 Friday night at home on their new surface.

The Robert H. Dunlap Stadium was all bright with new light fixtures and an artificial surface on the field.  The new red press box on the home side was dedicated to the late Bob Norris and named in his memory, the Bob Norris Media Center. Norris was the longtime voice of the Tigers who died during the 2007 season from cancer.

Major sponsors were recognized at halftime and presented a plaque for their support and donations.

The Tigers accumalated  over 500 total yards for the night while the defense held the Chargers to negative 5 yards.

The Tigers were penalized eight times for 66 yards; 30 of those yards were roughing the quarterback.

“I watched the film and it was very close,” Head Coach LancePogue said. “We play aggressive defense and we teach them to be physical and run to the ball.  There wasn’t anything I would’ve told them different.”

The offense came out sluggish in the first quarter but picked up when Xavier Lee scored on a 27-yard run with 9:29 on the first quarter clock. David Renfroe’s  PAT was good for the 7-0 lead.

Grenada scored on a safety when Renfroe was caught in the endzone and flagged for illegal grounding. Grenada was on the board down 7-2.

 Pogue has not gotten any explanation on that call and stated, “We thought David was outside of the tackle box and threw it away like you see all the time.”

Pouge explained, “They (officials) called it grounding and I haven’t had any of those referees explain it to me that’s understandable so we’re trying to figure out the rules right now on that because we don’t want to get in that situation again. When they called it, they had a hard time explaining the clarification to us so we’re going to find out exactly what the story is.”

Renfroe was not sure about the call either.

“I don’t know if that one call was a safety. I was out of the tackle box but who cares, we won. It’s a win and we’re ready for next week now. I was glad that my field goal went through tonight, too.”

Pogue was not concerned about the slow start the Tigers had.

“Offense is about timing and we’d like to start off scoring every time we get the ball. We’ve watched the film and there is nothing that’s a major concern. We’re trying to establish a running game and throw it too. You have to stay patient, keep clicking and it’ll happen.”

The defense was ready to play, according to Pogue.

“They were very active and played with a lot of enthusiasm and energy.  I hope we continue to do that.”

 Starting the second quarter, the Tigers put it in full force and never looked back adding 24 points using four different players.

Nicholas Parker scored on a four yard run. Taylor Rotenberry recovered a fumble in the endzone for a touchdown after Renfroe connected for a long pass to a receiver. Renfroe hooked up with Nicklos Brassell for another touchdown and then Renfroe capped it off by nailing a 37-yard field goal to put the Tigers up 31-2 at the half.

A few minutes into the third quarter, the younger players took over.

“I was real proud to get all of those guys in. It’s a lot of fun when we’re able to do that. Those guys practice hard every day and they did well.”

The last touchdown came in the third quarter when Qyendairs Griffin scored on a 10-yard run.

The Tigers got their own safety when the Chargers’ ball was snapped over the punter’s head and he kicked it out of the endzone.

Coach Pogue made some points to his team after the game stating, “Good job and good team effort. Offense, let’s get to where we can hold on to the ball. You know that we can’t afford that next week. We’ve got to hold on to the ball and we can’t give them anything.”

Pogue said, “Overall effort was good and the defense was good. We just have to continue to do that and stay focused.”