North Panola lost a heartbreaking season opener at home to Kingbury, 27-26 Friday night.

The Cougars scored first on an 11-yard run by Quay Daniels to lead 6-0 with 5:43 left in the first quarter. The two-point conversion failed.

Kingbury went ahead in the second quarter on a nine-yard pass with 3:34 left. The extra point kick was good for the 7-6 halftime lead. The Panthers scored on a 75-yard kickoff return to open the third quarter. With the PAT, led 14-6.

The Cougars answered with a 19 yard run by quarterback Quinn Ellis, but the tying two-point conversion failed with 9:25 left in the quarter. The Panthers maintained the lead, 14-12.

Kingbury scored from one yard out at the beginning of the fourth quarter at the 11:57 mark. The PAT failed and the lead was 20-12.

North Panola scored with 8:19 left in the game on a one yard run by Ellis, but again the two-point conversion failed to tie the game. The Panthers led 20-18.

With 1:55 left in the game, the Cougars retook the lead on an eight-yard run by Vernon Lewis. The Cougars converted the two-point conversion on a run by Lewis to lead 26-20.

The Panthers did not give up and took the kickoff to their own 25 yard line. On first and 10, the Panthers ran to the Cougar 13 yard line and three plays later scored on an eight-yard run untouched up the middle to tie the score with 37 seconds left in the game. The PAT was good for the 27-26 lead.