By Angie Ledbetter

For the 11th straight year, South Panola has hosted the first round of 1-6A playoffs and won.
Friday, from the time the Tigers won the toss and deferred to the second half, it was all Tiger football as they downed the Jim Hill Tigers 42-7.

The win sets up a second round game with Clinton at South Panola Friday at 7 p.m.

“It was a good win and I’m proud of our team,” said Tiger head coach Lance Pogue. “I thought we played good throughout.”

After a 10-year playoff drought Jim Hill did not have an answer for anything South Panola lobbed at them.

South Panola’s defense stood strong all night holding Jim Hill to 153 total yards on 40 plays that included 58 passing and 95 rushing.

“The defense played well and stopped the run for the most part and got a lot of pressure on their quarterback,” Pogue said.

On 76 plays South Panola had 462 yards that included 222 rushing and 240 passing.
Dashawn Lindsay lead the defense with six tackles, one sack for a two-yard loss, one interception and two pass deflections.  

Tony Conner followed three tackles with a five yard loss and one pass deflection. Quandez Lee had two tackles and two sacks for 11 yards lost. Also getting one sack was Jemarcus Brooks and Rodrickus Hunt. Ephraim Kitchens had one interception  returned for a touchdown, his two tackles and four pass deflections.

The offense was really efficient, according to Pogue.

The Tigers’ offense dominated the game. Darrell Henderson made the only rushing touchdown of the night with a seven yard run. Henderson carried the ball 27 times for 120 yards.

“Our kicking game was good also.”

South Panola’s Logan Robertson punted once for 46 yards.  

Rip Kirk completed 15 of 23 passes with 240 yards and one touchdown.

DeAndrea Harris led the receivers with five receptions for 104 yards and two touchdowns. C. J. Leland had two for 40 yards and one touchdown. Tyler Beard scored on a one-yard reception.

South Panola recovered the fumbled opening kick from Jim Hill on Jim Hill’s 42 yard line.

Thirty-one seconds off the clock and Rip Kirk connected with DeAndrea Harris on a 34-yard touchdown pass. Clayton Sibley added the PAT for the 7-0 lead.

South Panola’s Lindsay stopped a Jim Hill drive with an interception with 5:16 left in the first quarter.

Two plays later, the Tigers fumbled the ball back to Jim Hill.

Jim Hill tied the game at seven with 1:19 left in the first quarter when Marjarvus McGee scored on a two-yard run. The PAT by Joshua Palm was good for the tied score going into the second quarter.

Henderson capped a nine-play, 80-yard drive on a seven yard run with 10:29 left in the second quarter. Sibley added the PAT for the 14-7 lead.

Jim Hill was forced to punt its next possession away which was dotted with two sacks from Quandez Lee.

Leland scored on a 13 yard pass with 2:59 left. Clayton Sibley added the PAT for the 21-7 halftime lead.

The score capped a 10-play- 57-yard drive highlighted by 28 yards on seven runs by Henderson and a 12-yard pass to Harris.

The Tigers continued to dominate in the third quarter with three touchdowns. Beard scored on a one-yard pass with 4:19 left on the clock, capping a 16-play, 58-yard drive.

Jim Hill’s first possession of the third quarter was a quick three-and-out with a tackle for five lost yards by Darrel Davis, a tackle by JeTavious Turner after a one-yard pick up and a tackle for four lost yards by Conner.

Harris caught a 27-yard pass from Kirk to cap a three-play, 50-yard drive with 1:02 left in the quarter.  

As time expired in the third, Kitchens intercepted Justin Tidwell’s pass on the Tiger’s 43 and returned it for a 57-yard score. Sibley scored the three PATs making him a perfect six of six for the game.

South Panola had possession of the ball for 28:13 while Jim Hill had it 19:47.  South Panola ended the game with 27 first downs, one fumble and six penalties for 67 yards. They went four of 11 on third downs and four of four on fourth.  

The winner of Friday’s game will face off with the winner of Olive Branch and Madison Central for the north half.  

In other action this Friday night, Olive Branch will travel to Madison Central, D’Iberville travels to Petal and Brandon travels to Hattiesburg. 

“I’m happy to be in the next game,” Pogue said. “We’ll deal with that, try to find a way to win and keep moving forward.”