By Angie Ledbetter

After all three county high school teamss saw a bye week, South Panola will open district play at home while North Delta engages another district rival and North Panola goes on the road for a huge district match.

North Delta

The North Delta Green Wave will host the Marshall Academy Patriots tonight for their second district game of the season. The Patriots are holding a 4-1 overall record but will see their first district action tonight. The Green Wave are sporting a 3-1 overall and 1-0 district record.

A common bond between the teams is the one loss they have is by way of the Magnolia Heights Chiefs. The Patriots opened the season by defeating Rossville Academy 43-0 and a week later fell to the Chiefs 35-19. On September 3, they defeated Falkner 41-14, they beat Tunica Institute of Learning 30-21 the following week and handed Lee Academy a 34-28 loss last week.

According to Green Wave head coach Dan Werner, the Green Wave took its week off and tried to get back healthy after being banged up.

“We did practice but cut it down some. We prepared for Marshall but we didn’t have film on them yet except from the jamboree so there wasn’t a whole lot we could do. We worked on getting better ourselves with blocking, tackling and getting healthy. We still have some guys banged up and hopefully some of them that missed the last game will be able to play tonight.”

Werner said Marshall is very similar to North Delta.

“If you look at their scores, they’ve played three teams that we’ve played and all three games were about the same,” he said. “The two teams they beat, we did also with similar scores and then we both lost to Magnolia Heights about the same there, too.”

This should be a great matchup, according to Werner, and will possibly determine who will be in the run for the district championship at the end of the season.

“Marshall can pass and run the ball,” Werner said. “They have the ability to line up with two tight ends, two wings and a back and smash it in there. The very next play they’ll fly up with no backs and five wide.”

Key players on the Patriot’s team include No. 5 the quarterback.

“He is a good player. Last week against Clarksdale Lee, he threw for a bunch of yards and a couple of touchdowns and got them right back into the game.”

Another player is No. 4 wide receiver/running back/quarterback. “He threw for a touchdown pass and caught a touchdown pass against Clarksdale Lee.”

“No. 44 is a linebacker/running back type of receiver guy. He is really good on defense.”

Werner is very satisfied with his team up to this point. “The last two games we were behind and found a way to fight back into it, battled and showed a lot of character. I told the players that’s not something you coach, you either got it or you don’t. They’ve got it so now if we can get better at blocking the tackler we should be a really good football team.”

North Panola

The North Panola Cougars will open district action after traveling about 15 miles north to take on their biggest rivalry in a Region 2-4A battle with the Senatobia Warriors who are holding a 3-2 overall record and 1-0 district.

“It’s not only a big district game but our biggest rivalry,” said head coach Sean Norwood. “The kids have been very excited all week about this game. Senatobia is always a fundamentally sound and well-coached team.”

Key players for the Warriors are running back No.13 Quintavius Burdette, a 185-pound junior and the quarterback No.10 Tyler Pirtle, a 160-pound sophomore.

“The Cougars are more of a running team so we’re going to have to stop the running back,” said Norwood. “Plus we’re going to have to keep the quarterback in the pocket. He is a smart quarterback who doesn’t make many mistakes and has really good feet.

“Their defense isn’t the biggest guys but they’re really quick,” Norwood added. “They’re always going to be where they’re supposed to be when they’re supposed to be there.”

The Cougars will be looking for their first win of the season.

“I’ve tried to get the guys to see that the four games that they’ve lost have been warm ups and now we’re getting to the games that really count. I believe if we play to our capability, we could win the game.”

On the week off, the Cougars had a good week of work.

“We did a lot of conditioning and worked on a lot of fundamentals.”

South Panola

“I think we had a good week with the open date by working in some areas, continuing to develop some younger guys and trying to stay polished,” said South Panola head coach Lance Pogue. “Now we’re in division play and it’s one game at a time. Every time you win one you get a little bit better chance at a play off position and I’m just excited about getting back to playing.”

The South Panola Tigers will open district play hosting the Horn Lake Eagles while celebrating homecoming.

The Eagles started the season off struggling with an 0-4 overall record. They opened on the road with Charleston losing 36-0 and fell to Lake Cormorant 33-17 the following week on the road. Two weeks ago they fell to Center Hill 12-7 on the road and last week they lost at home to Briarcrest 41-23.

Pogue added, “Even though they’re 0-4, they’ve played really hard. Looks like they’re really trying their best. That’s the kind of team that you have to worry about. They’re dangerous because they haven’t had any success and you know they want to have some. The Eagles scored 23 points on Briarcrest and they’re undefeated. I just don’t want them to unleash on us.”

With the building of the extra schools going on in Desoto County, some of the talent is shifting from one school to another. Horn Lake has had its share of good players moving to another school in the district.

“The Eagles do a good job with what they have,” Pogue said. “They’re trying to rebuild the program. But I’m more concerned about our preparation this week with us being the best team we can be and I’m not meaning that boastfully. I want us to be as ready as we can be.”

The Eagles will be led by quarterback No. 16 Mac Cooley.

“I know he has got some talent and has done some good things,” said Pogue. “He’s been under a lot of pressure and really hasn’t had the chance to really be himself.”

Leading the Eagles in rushing is No. 5 F. Benson with 13 touchdowns.

“There again you see a kid that has a lot of ability but they haven’t had a chance to get their head above the water where they can get some confidence going and feel good about themselves.”

Leading in tackles is #9 Manny Leyva with 35 total and two sacks.

“The defense has given up some points but at times they’ve played well forcing a few turnovers but at times they’ve given up some big plays.”

With it being homecoming week, things have been busy with all the festivities.

“We’ve done a good job with homecoming since I’ve been here. The kids understand we don’t have any margin for any errors and we have to be ready. We’ve got enough senior leadership that will help keep us focused and grounded.”