By Myra Bean

It was a very sweet homecoming for North Panola as they downed the M. S. Palmer Dragons 48-12 Friday night.

Morgan Hightower was crowned Miss Homecoming and Detalion Mays was crowned Mr. Homecoming during halftime festivities.

The Cougars (5-3 overall, 2-3 district) returned home after three straight road games to win their fourth straight game.

Despite jumping out to a 14-0 first quarter lead and leading 30-6 at halftime, North Panola was plagued with penalties all night long. They had 10 penalties for 165 lost yards, while Palmer (1-5, 0-2 district) had 11 penalties for 65 lost yards. Two Cougar touchdowns were negated due to penalties.

Cougar head coach Derek King said penalties can hurt the game plan.

“We learned we can’t go as far as we want to if we keep making penalties,” he said. “Maybe it is just something about playing at home, we commit a lot of penalties.”

In the last three road games combined, North Panola only had 24 penalties and 220 lost yards combined.

Statistician Mike Britt agreed with this reporter that it seems the officials only look at the North Panola players and think they are all carrying guns and wanting to fight since the August 23 shooting at the school. However, when a Palmer player punched a North Panola player in the side, the officials missed that. King had to call to time out to let the officials aware of the oversight.

 Though they will address the issues, King did not let it slow them down.

“When we can get lined up and take care of our assignments, things go pretty well,” he said. “We just have to continue to have more of those reps than the penalized plays, negative plays. I feel good about the game. It was a good win, homecoming. It was a game the kids really want, the coaches really want. We are 2-0 in district, four wins in a row. It’s been a good month because that first month was a little rough.”

Some of the younger players are getting a chance at some quality varsity action. One player is freshman running back Deunta Sipp who burst through the Palmer defensive line in route to a 36-yard touchdown run with 5:57 left in the game. That was the last score for the Cougars. That is not the first time Sipp has scored against a varsity defense. He has scored some in practice against the Cougar defense.

“He has been coming along for the last few weeks,” King said. “He has had some great practices. He has done really well in junior varsity games, just waiting on his time. He runs hard. I like it because he goes north/south. He’s due. He’s going to be a special player. I don’t know if Coach (Denver) Wade is going to trying to steal him from Coach (Carl) Diffee. We know he will be on the field with North Panola for the next three years and the rest of this season.”

Also creating big plays for North Panola is Ole Miss commit sophomore running back Justin Connor.

Connor rushed for 100 yards on 11 carries and one three-yard touchdown with 4:42 left in the first quarter Friday night. So far this season, he has 736 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.

“Between us getting our line together and playing some tougher teams right out of the gate, he is fresh,” King said. “It is good to have two backs because Tevin (Wink) can run the ball, too. Tee (Jatavious Farmer) runs the ball. Now when you have all of these threats, Justin can now shoulder the load late in the season if he had to. He is more than ready. We know right now that we have three solid backs that can play any position. Then you have our slot guys, younger guys stepping up. Our backfield skills are loaded. It’s nice that Justin has been able to get his work, avoid injury thankfully. Now he is fresh. He is going to be running a lot.”

The Cougar defense has limited the last four teams to 56 points, averaging 158 points per game.

Standing out on defense is junior linebacker Virgil Jones.

“Virgil Jones is stepping up,” King said. “He is around the ball a lot. That is always best for a linebacker to be around the football.”

Ole Miss commit junior tightend/defensive end Willie Hibbler is making his presence known on both sides of the ball. 

“Willie Hibbler is leading us in fumble recovery,” King said. “Anytime your best receiver is leading you in fumble recoveries, then you have some good things going on. We have been doing defensive line by committee but all of those guys have really stepped up and taken on the responsibility of fixing our run defense. It has been a good team effort starting with coaches Wade, (Marshall) Deavers, (Desmond) Hendricks and Atavis Campbell.”

NP vs. Palmer

Farmer scored the opening touchdown on a six yard run with 9:49 left in the first quarter. Darius Thomas scored the two-point conversion. On Palmer’s second possession, Thomas ended that threat with an interception he returned from the Cougar 20 to the 45 yard line. The Cougar possession ended in a punt.

Robert Oliver scored both touchdowns in the second quarter on an eight-yard and a three-yard pass with 7:57 and 51 seconds left in the half. Thomas scored the first two-point conversion and Wink scored the second.

Palmer got on the scoreboard with 1:52 left in the first half on an eight-yard run by Montavious Jones but the two-point conversion failed.

Palmer made its first possession of the third quarter count on a 15-yard run by Kenny Brooks with 7:51 left but again the two-point conversion failed.

North Panola added to its score with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Farmer to Thomas with 1:35 left in the third, but the two-point conversion failed.

Jones scored the first touchdown in the fourth quarter on a two-yard run with 10:12 to go.

The Cougars had 429 total yards of offense including 339 rushing, and limited Palmer to 249 total yards, all rushing.

Farmer completed 11 of 20 pass attempts for 90 yards and three touchdowns. He threw no interceptions. He carried the ball 10 times for 50 yards and one touchdown.

Others carrying the ball include Thomas, 69 yards on two carries, one touchdown; Jones, 49 yards on two carreis, one touchdown; Wink, 25 yards on three carries; Sipp, 56 yards on three carries, one touchdown; and Randy Harrell, 12 yards on three carries. 

Oliver led in receptions with 46 yards on four catches and two touchdowns. Other receivers include Thomas, 30 yards on three catches; and Lucius Walls, 16 yards on two catches.

On defense, Willie Hibbler was the leading tackler with 10 solos, four assists, had one tackle for loss yards, one sack and one fumble recovery. 

Other defensive leaders include Jones, seven solos, three assists, one tackle for loss, one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery; Willie Patterson, four solos, three assists; Mike Hollins, four solos, four assists, one tackle for loss; and Kerrian Cotton, three solos, two assists and one tackle for loss.

Jones leads the team in solo tackles with 50 followed by Hibbler with 40 and Brandon Connor with 37.

Water Valley

This week North Panola is preparing for a big game, probably one of the biggest in the district as Water Valley comes to town. North Panola will also observe Senior Night Friday. School has been out for the last two days for fall break, but the team has spent the time practicing.

“It’s more time to prepare for Water Valley,” King said. “Obviously, we need to prepare as much as possible. They are top 10 in the state in 3A, ranked in small school power rankings. They are good.”

Water Valley (7-1, 1-1) is coming off a 56-0 blanking of Holly Springs in district action Friday. Their district loss was to Charleston in the district opener, Oct. 4, 42-10.

Kickoff is 7 p.m.