By Myra Bean

The Charleston Tigers walked on the wild side this season and showed some bigger schools they can play with the big dogs.

Their non-conference slate of six games included two 6A schools in Southaven and Grenada and two 5A schools in Oxford and Clarksdale where they came out 4-2.

Tonight, North Panola travels to Charleston hoping to improve upon its performance against Winona in a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Cougar offensive line has shown marked improvement and allowed running back Chris Conner to gain 107 yards and to score a touchdown last week.

The Cougars have been shut out six times this season.

Charleston lost its first two games to Southaven and Oxford but has since won six straight. The last two were district wins where they defeated Byhalia and Palmer by scoring an average of 44 points per game.

The last time the two teams met was in the first round of the playoffs in 2007 where Charleston won 48-20 and North Panola finished the season 5-6. After that season, North Panola moved to 4A for two years while Charleston has remained a 3A school.

Charleston has made the playoffs for the past seven straight years and lost in the state championship game in 2005.