By Angie Ledbetter

Friday, a Meridian banner read, “Remember us?”

“Yes,” the South Panola Tigers said, in the MHSAA Class 6A State Championship game Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium with a 28-7 win before an estimated 14,000 fans.

The No. 1 team in the nation and state captured its ninth state title dating back to 1993 at its home away from home. The Tigers finished with a 15-0 record for the sixth time in eight years and a winning streak of 27 games.

It was two years ago at this very game that the win streak of 89 games was halted by Meridian but the Tigers would not be denied again.

“We never talked about any of that,” said Tiger head coach Lance Pogue. “Our focus was to be the best team we could be. We thought we had a chance at having a great team with all of those guys returning from the 2009 team. We started the early fall taking a trip to Petal, then that long road trip to Georgia and then to MUS.

“When we got to division play I thought we were really playing well,” Pogue added. “One thing we don’t talk about much but it was really big was, we had a heck of a year from an injury standpoint. Everybody stayed healthy and I go back to how hard they worked in the off season in the weight and strength program this summer.”

Senior tailback Qyen Griffin accounted for three touchdowns and 174 yards enroute to the victory. That put him in the record books with 2,625 yards and 37 touchdowns on 291 carries.

The Tigers received the opening kickoff to start the game after the Wildcats deferred. The Tigers punted the possession away and the nasty bunch defense forced the Wildcats to punt on the next series. The game was scoreless at the end of the first quarter.

Meridian was plagued not only with the Tiger defense in the second quarter, but mainly its leader, sophomore safety Tony Conner and his two interceptions.

Conner intercepted a Meridian pass with 6:18 left in the first half. Nine plays and 82 yards later, Griffin scored on a five-yard pass from senior quarterback Lee Self with 2:41 left in the half. Clayton Sibley’s PAT was good to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead at the half. Sibley was perfect four for four on the night.

Conner also intercepted a pass with 1:34 left in the half that has people still wondering how he reeled the ball in. Meridian quarterback Antoinne Adkins passed the ball, but it was deflected off the Meridian receiver and a Tiger defender.

Conner stretched his arms and brought the ball down to the ground with him while he was in a twisting motion. The Tigers ended the half by taking a knee.

The Wildcats received the kickoff from the Tigers to start the third quarter on their own 27. After going up against the Tiger defense, Meridian was forced to punt.

Senior receiver Nick Brassell returned the ball to the 45. With Griffin, Market and Conner’s carries, the ball was sitting at Meridian’s seven. Griffin scored on a diving run to cross the goal line just inside the pylon with 6:36 left in the quarter.

Sibley’s PAT gave the Tigers a 14-0 lead with 6:34 left on the clock. That touchdown capped a five-play, 55-yard drive in 2:04.

Meridian scored its only touchdown of the game at the 3:38 mark when Adkins scored on a seven-yard run. The PAT by senior kicker Luke Stanley cut the score 14-7 Tigers. The drive covered 58 yards in six plays. Adkins ran 50 yards in two plays to get Meridian in scoring position.

South Panola went back to work  from their own 20-yard line. A motion penalty pushed the Tigers back to the 15. Market then ran for seven yards, followed by Griffin for four to get to the 26-yard line.

Market went under center and connected with Griffin on a 70-yard throw to the four-yard line.

Conner then scored on a four-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.

“That’s the way to answer them,” Pogue told the offense when they exited the field.

Sibley’s PAT gave the Tigers a 21-7 third quarter lead.

The Tigers put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter with 5:41 left on an 11-yard run by Griffin. Sibley’s PAT gave the Tigers a 28-7 lead. The drive covered 81 yards in 13 plays.

Griffin finished the game with 178 yards on 28 carries with two touchdowns. He also had two receptions for 74 yards with one touchdown.

Market had eight carries with 63 yards. He completed two passes for 74 yards passing and one touchdown.

Conner had four carries for 27 yards with one touchdown. He had two interception returns for 17 yards. Brassell had three receptions for 57 yards. He had two punt returns for 37 yards.

Self was four of six in passing for 61 yards. He had one punt for 26 yards. Taylor Rotenberry had one punt return for 33 yards.

The Tigers had 401 total yards, including 266 rushing yards and 135 yards passing. The Wildcats had 222 total yards, including 183 rushing and 39 passing.

South Panola was penalized eight times for 73 yards while Meridian had six penalties for 55 yards. Time of possession for the Tigers was 25:16 and 22:44 for the Wildcats. The Tigers had one sack.

Leading the defense was Market and Dennis Draper with seven tackles each. Issac Gross had six tackles followed by Conner with five and two interceptions. Al Hentz had four tackles.  

As tears begin to flow from Pogue’s eyes, he told everyone how proud he was after the game.

“Seniors this program will never forget you. I’ll never forget you! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all your hard work, your guts, your willingness to work every day and not to be denied. You’ve got something that’ll last you forever. You young guys, this senior group has left you something big. You need to be proud of that and understand how much that means.”

Pogue reminded the players what they had to do to win the game.

“I told all of you in that locker room that you’d have to fight your guts out for four quarters,” he said. “Then things weren’t going good in the first quarter with penalties and dumb stuff but you kept fighting and overcame it. You physically took the game away from them. They haven’t seen anything like this.

“This’ll be something you’ll always remember, I guarantee you,” Pogue continued. “In your life you’re going to face times when things don’t go right but you look back on times like this and you draw from it. They’ll be a lot of things in your lifetime that you’ll run across that’ll be tough and hard to handle but there are ways to keep going. You’ve got what it takes and you’ve got it in your heart.”

Pogue said he was real emotional after the game because he was happy for them.

“You put so much hard work and make such a commitment to want to be the best, then it’s so much fun to actually see it develop,” he said. “You get to a point where you’re extremely excited and happy for everybody that’s involved.”

The old saying goes that defense wins championships. The South Panola nasty bunch defense was over shadowed with pregame hype of the Meridian defense.

A laid back and quiet Coach Trey Dickerson had only one thing to say to the team after the game.

“How about that No. 1 rush defense in the state?”

Pogue said, “They didn’t even talk about our defense. How about that defense, baby!”