By Angie Ledbetter

With a 9-1 overall record the South Panola Tigers leaped back to the top of the polls after No. 1 Oak Grove fell to former No. 1 Brandon 42-23. South Panola handed Southaven a 29-6 loss to remain undefeated in district action. 

Tupelo and Grenada follow with a 4-1 record. Desoto Central stands at 3-2 and Olive Branch 2-3. Southaven and Horn Lake both stand at 1-4 and Hernando 0-5.

Grenada was part of those upsetting as it downed Olive Branch 12-7 in District 1-6A action.

Darrell Henderson scored two touchdowns with runs of 70 yards and 65 yards. He ended the game with 209 yards on 18 carries, averaging 11.6 yards per carry.

Oluwain Hoskins carried the ball 12 times for the Tigers for 104 yards and one touchdown run of 54 yards. Tavain Bibbs had 44 yards on 10 carries and Roosevelt Jones had 22 yards on eight carries.

Quarterback Rip Kirk completed six of 21 passes for 74 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Connecting with Kirk was Ephraim Kitchens on a 19-yard touchdown pass. 

Dashawn Lindsay had one reception for 21 yards and Antavion Reed had one for 11 yards. Reginald Morris had one for nine yards. Bailey Lawrence and L. J. Carr each had one reception for seven yards.

In the first quarter, Anfernee Benson intercepted a Southaven pass returning it six yards to the Tigers’ 26 with 1:17 left in the quarter. Two plays and 74 yards later, Henderson scored on a 26-yard run. The two-point conversion failed as the Tigers led 6-0 with 31.9 seconds left.

Benson said, “This game was real big and we wanted to come out here and make a statement against a pretty good team.”

On his interception Benson said he wanted to thank the blitzer.

“He hit the quarterback and it kind of ricocheted in the air and I wanted to catch it.”

In the middle of the second quarter, the Tigers took a 13-0 lead into halftime after Kirk found Kitchens on a 19-yard touchdown pass. Matthew Williams added the PAT. 

In the third quarter, Henderson scored on a  65-yard run without being touched. With the PAT, the Tigers took a 20-0 lead with 10:43 left.

The touchdown capped a two-play, 70-yard drive.

Hoskins capped a six-play, 74-yard drive that lasted 1:54 with a 54-yard run.

Williams’ kick was good to put the Tigers up 27-0 with 6:26 left in the third quarter.

The Chargers scored their only touchdown of the night with 3:08 left in the third when Shea Chism connected with Terence Davis on a nine-yard pass but the two-point conversion pass failed.

In the fourth quarter Tiger Benson dropped Darrian Anthony in the end zone for a safety and a 29-6 lead.

Ryan Lee had five tackles and one sack to lead the Tigers’ defense. Getting three tackles each were Lindsay, Turner Rotenberry, Jamarcus Brooks, Benson and John Ellis. 

Rotenberry and Benson had one interception apiece. Gabriel Lloyd and Rotenberry had five pass deflections each while Sanford had four. Smith and Kitchens had three. Lindsay, Benson and Quandarious Hamilton had one pass deflection.  

The Tigers had 443 yards while holding Southaven to 196.

Head coach Lance Pogue said it was a good win for the Tigers.

“It was pretty sloppy for us at times but a positive win. It sets up a game next week at our place with Grenada with the division championship being on the line.”

With the defense holding Southaven to six points Pogue said he thought they played good at times.

“We gave up a few pass plays we wish we had back and made a nice goal line stand late in the first half.”

South Panola will host Grenada Friday night. Kickoff is 7 p.m.