By Angie Ledbetter

The South Panola Tigers made their statement on the field Friday night as they took down the No. 2 Olive Branch Quistadors before an estimated crowd of 6,500 which has been the biggest crowds in a while at Robert H. Dunlap Stadium.

The Tigers were the buzz among media and people who doubted them as they turned a clash of unbeaten division teams into a lopsided affair beating the Quistadors 40-21.

Both the Tigers and Conquistadors had one non-conference loss and one division win entering the heated battle but the Tigers took a 2-0 division lead.

Coach Lance Pogue said he thought the Tigers got off to a good start.

“We got some early momentum but I was a little disappointed that we let them score. We gave them an interception return with just a miscommunication when we should’ve run the ball then. We didn’t let that unrattle us after they kind of got some momentum back. I thought the second half we just took control of the game.”

After winning the toss and deferring their option the Tigers jumped off to an early start when Rip Kirk connected with L. J. Carr on a 45 yard reception but the extra point was missed giving the Tigers a 6-0 lead with 9:42 left on the clock. The defense stepped up big on the Conquistador’s next drive when Ryan Lee intercepted their pass on the 40 yard line with 8:32 on the clock.

Three plays later Kirk found Reginald Morris for a 10 yard touchdown pass. The Tigers went for two but Kirk’s pass went incomplete.

With 4:34 left in the quarter the Tigers jumped out to a 20 point lead when Darrell Henderson took the ball 48 yards for a touchdown and then took the two point conversion to the endzone.
The Conquistadors answered with Mario Dillard connecting with Dontavis Bruce on a 20 yard touchdown pass and Zach Baddour’s PAT was good making the score 20-7 at the end of the quarter.

          Early in the second quarter KyKy Austin intercepted Kirk’s pass and took it to the house from 63 yards out and the PAT by Baddour was good putting the Conquistadors within seven of the Tigers with 7:58 on the clock.

          The Tigers took a 26-14 lead into the locker room at the half after Oluwain Hoskins went over the finish line from one yard out but the two point conversion attempt was no good.

          Brady Smith intercepted Ross Trail’s pass and returned it 36 yards to the Tiger’s 40 with 9:17 on the clock. After Henderson carried the ball eight times to the Conquistador’s 28 Kirk went to the air to Justin Armstead. Henderson took the ball down to the four and on the next play he took it to the endzone for a touchdown. He carried the ball for the two point conversion giving the Tigers a 34-14 lead over the Conquistadors with 5:17 left in the third.

          The Tigers struck gain at the 1:42 mark when Henderson caught a 53 yard pass from Kirk and the PAT was no good putting the Tigers up 40-14 to end the third quarter.

          To start the last quarter of action Trail got hit in his back on the very first play and was taken to the hospital after lying on the field about 25 minutes. The latest word on him Monday morning was he was going to be ok and possibly see action in Friday night’s game.  

          With 5:18 left in the game Stephen Collins attempted a 25 yard field goal and Austin blocked it taking it to the endzone for a touchdown. Baddour added his PAT for the final score.

          It’s always known the team that makes the least amount of mistakes will win and the Tigers recorded their least amount of mistakes this season.

          “We made a couple of mistakes but I thought we forced them into a whole bunch of them and they turned it over numerous times. We got great pressure on their quarterback who is an outstanding talented guy. I don’t think they had seen the kind of pressure this year that we brought. Obviously we played good in the secondary and we didn’t let them run the ball any and of course we were just trying to tee then and rush the passing.”

          Pogue said he thought the team played physical and had a lot of speed with their pass rush with only giving up one touchdown offensively.

          “I thought we played well in all phases of the game. We did some great things on offense other than that one turnover where we gave them a pick six. We were very balanced running and throwing the ball. Our defense played against a high power offense and we made some plays in the kicking game also.”

          Darrell Henderson rushed 21 times for 148 yards scoring twice. He also had two kickoff returns for 38 yards.  

          “He’s a difference maker and it helps us to throw the ball because people load the box and we were able to get some throws out there. Darrell is a guy that if you don’t tackle him he’ll take it to the house. He’s a physical inside runner and breaks tackles too. To me he’s a complete back and a constant threat.”

          Hoskins had nine carries for 65 yards with one touchdown. Bibbs had 10 carries for 40 yards.

          The Tigers dominated control of the game with 27:48 with 16 first downs and three penalties for 25 yards. Rip Kirk completed 8 of 14 passes for 111 yards with three touchdowns and one interception with his longest being 53. Tyler Pogue went two of six for 16 yards.

          Henderson had three receptions for 49 yards and one touchdown. Carr had one for 45 yards with one touchdown and Morris had one for 10 yards and a touchdown.  

          With 127 yards passing and 262 yards rushing the Tigers ended the game with 389 total yards. The Conquistadors were held to 11 first downs, 50 yards rushing and 116 yards passing for a total of 166. They had the ball for 9:54.

          Ryan Lee had a very good defensive game with four tackles, two pass deflections, an interception, a sack and a fumble recovery.

          “He’s a very talented guy who’s a junior playing linebacker and played well tonight. He’s got a bright future ahead of him.”

          Lindsay had five tackles and one pass deflection. Norris had four and a sack. Quandez Lee had three. Matthew Davis had two tackles and a sack. Smith had two and an interception and Ephraim Kitchens had two with two pass deflections. Kasey Hankins had two tackles and a sack. Drelan Porter had one tackle and one sack.

          Henderson said he thought it was going to be a close game.

          “What really surprised me was when we jumped out on them in the first half because I thought their defense was tough because people were bragging about their defense being the top in the state.”

          Kirk said he thought the game was going to be a lot closer.

          “I thought it was going to be a lot more physical game also but we came out and man handled them the first half. It worked in our favor in the first half and we kept the momentum going. Our defense played great. In the second half they were tired and exhausted and didn’t want to anymore after the first half.”

          Tyler Pogue said, “I didn’t think we’d score 40 points on them. I figured they’d be a lot more soundly tuned on defense and they were but we just busted a lot of big plays on them. The key to us winning tonight was we executed our offense and the defense executed everything they were supposed to do. We prepared very good this week for them.”