By Brad Greer

Antwone Flowers rushed for 87 yards on 16 carries to lead the South Panola 9th grade football team to a 16-0 shutout of Olive Branch Tuesday night  at Robert H. Dunlap Stadium. With the victory, the Tigers improved to 2-0 on the season  and will host Grenada Monday at 5:30.

South Panola’s  ‘B’ team was  also in action as they blanked the Conquistadors 14-0 in the nightcap.

The ninth-grade Tigers got things rolling on the opening kickoff by marching 63 yards on nine plays capped off by a Flowers 14-yard touchdown burst with 4:06 remaining in the quarter. Tevis Flowers scored the two-point conversion attempt to make the score 8-0. Flowers 14-yard run on 4th-and 4 from ‘Quistador 45 kept the drive alive.

Olive Branch looked to tie the score on their opening possession, but was snuffed out by a Ladarrius Strong interception on the Tiger 26 yard-line.

Leading 8-0 after halftime, the Tigers received the second half kickoff and drove to the Conquistador ten–yard line but turned the ball over when Carlos Hooks fumbled into the endzone for a touchback.

South Panola put the game away late in the fourth quarter when the Tiger special teams got into the act by blocking an Olive Branch punt on the ‘ Quistador 41. Hooks later redeemed himself by scoring on a 13-yard run and added the two-point conversion to make the score 16-0 with ten seconds remaining in the game.

Hooks followed Flowers in the rushing department with 38 yards on seven carries. Strong added 18 yards on five totes while quarterback Tevis Flowers finished the game with 14 yards passing and 14 yards rushing.

In the ‘B’ team game, Johnathan Bowens bulldozed his way for 105 yards and a touchdown  in leading the Tigers to victory.

Following an Olive Branch fumble on their own 38, South Panola got on the board at the 8:10 mark of the first half on Bowens five-yard run. Bowens was stopped short of the goal line on the two- point attempt to leave the score at 6-0.

The lead stayed that way until 12:21 of the second half when quarterback Bobby Epps lofted a seven-yard touchdown pass to Ron Taylor. Epps then ran around left end to complete the two-point attempt. The drive was aided by a pair of 15-yard runs by Bowens and a  18- yard scamper  by Epps to the Olive Branch 13. Epps added 32 yards rushing on four carries to go along with 29 yards passing.

Batesville Jr. High – 36  Oxford – 0

In Oxford, Deshawn Lindsay scored a pair of touchdowns while Courtney Porter hauled in  a 50-yard touchdown pass from  Bailey Lawrence as the Batesville Jr. High Tigers hammered Oxford 36-0. Q Lee and Jamarus Brooks both added touchdown runs.

Batesville will be back in action Tuesday as they host Lafayette Co. beginning at 5 p.m.