NP vs Desoto Central

Published 12:00 am Friday, September 7, 2012

NP Cougars confident against DC


By Myra Bean

Last week was not necessarily a good one for Panola County high school football teams as all three were tagged with a loss. Surprisingly, North Panola registered the best offense of the night.

North Panola hosted Lewisburg in its first home game of the season and scored 14 points in a 24-14 loss last Thursday. With the approach of Hurricane Isaac, school officials decided to play the game a day early.

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Cougar head coach Derek King said moving Tacoris Lee to center was the best move they made on offense last Thursday and contributed to the success the Cougars had on the field moving the ball for positive yards.

These were the first points of the season for North Panola.

Tonight, the Cougars travel to Southaven to take on the 6A Desoto Central Jaguars in the Jaguars’ homecoming.

Desoto Central enters the game with a 3-0 record. They opened the season with a 25-22 win over Lewisburg, shut out Potts Camp 28-0 and downed Lake Cormorant 20-14.

Even though Desoto Central is a 6A team, Cougar head coach Derek King is not intimidated by them.
“I feel good about our chances going into this game,” he said.

King said Desoto Central is a solid team led by senior quarterback Kyle Morgan.

“The offense is predicated on his decision-making,” King said. “We will have to do a lot of inside reads. They will run outside and he will find his throwing bubble.”

The Cougar defense will have to be sound on defense to pick up the plays of Morgan, according to King.

The Jaguar secondary is also sound, according to the first year Cougar coach.

“For us, the offense needs to make sure we are reading the coverage quickly so they don’t break quickly,” King said.

This is only the second meeting between these teams. Last year, Desoto Central won the contest 35-0.

The Cougars will get Fred Kimmons back on the offensive line from a knee injury sustained in the first game of the season. The return of Brandon Conner and Justin Conner will be game time decisions.

Kickoff for this non-district contest is 7:30 p.m.