By Angie Ledbetter
On the coldest night of the fall and winter season the South Panola Tigers wrapped up their regular season on senior night by clinching the Region 1-6A district championship.
Hosting one of the best teams the Desoto Central Jaguars have fielded, the Tigers took care of business 37-3.

Both teams’ defenses were in denial mode as South Panola carried a 7-0 lead into the second quarter.

Senior Tiger tailback Tavian Bibbs scored on a two yard run with 3:37 left in the first quarter and senior Matthew Williams added the PAT.

With 30 seconds left in the quarter, the Tigers fumbled and the Jaguars recovered it on the Tiger 12 yard line. The Tiger’s defense held strong pushing the Jaguars back to the 19 and forcing a field goal. With 11:32 left in the half, Austin Riley kicked a 36 yard field goal to get Desoto Central on the board.

With 3:07 before half, Darrell Henderson broke away on a 44 yard run but the extra point attempt failed keeping the score 13-3 Tigers.

Henderson scored again on a 77-yard run with 1:20 left in the half but it was negated due to an illegal procedure by the Tigers. With less than 10 seconds left, Williams kicked a 23-yard field goal for the Tigers with a 16-3 halftime lead.

Quandez Lee recovered a Jaguar fumble in the middle of the third quarter and a few seconds later Henderson scored his second touchdown of the night on a two-yard run. Williams’ PAT gave the Tigers the 23-3 lead.

Henderson finished the game with 125 yards on 12 carries. In 12 games he has totaled 1,749 yards on 231 carries with 20 touchdowns. He had 12 receptions for 197 yards with three touchdowns giving him 2,292 all-purpose yards.

Henderson said, “I had a good night but think I could’ve done better but my knee was bothering me. As far as who we play next week it doesn’t matter. We’re going in and getting another win. I’m expecting the same as last year with making big plays and leading my team to another state championship.”

The Tigers saw a slew of new faces and numbers in the fourth quarter including quarterback sophomore Tyler Pogue.

With 6:57 left in the game junior running back DeWayne Brassell scored on a two-yard run and Steven Collins kicked the extra point giving the Tigers a 29-3 lead.

 Brassell had six carries for 41 yards for the night.

The last touchdown of the night came with 4:32 on the clock when junior running back Roosevelt Jones took the ball from 38 yards out and Collins added his PAT.

Jones finished the game with five carries for 46 yards.

Rip Kirk went 10 of 14 for 179 yards with no interceptions. He was sacked twice.  
Leading receiver was Walter Henry with two receptions for 85 yards, followed by Cole Rotenberry, one for 47 yards.

Other receivers include Dashawn Lindsay, three for 34 yards, Reginald Morris, one for 19 yards; Antavion Reed, one for 17 yards; Henderson, one for nine yards; Tyler Bradford, one for eight yards; Javarius McKinney, one for eight yards; and Bailey Lawrence, one for seven.

The Tigers finished the game with 488 total yards and held the Jaguars to 56. They had 19 first downs, one fumble lost and 11 penalties for 99 yards. The Jaguars had seven first downs, two penalties for 10 yards and two fumbles lost.

Leading on defense were Lindsay and Ryan Lee with five tackles each.

Other tacklers include Norris, Sanford and Anfernee Benson, four each. Norris also had one fumble recovery.

Also getting some tackles were Ephraim Kitchens, three; Brady Smith, Matthew Davis, Turner Rotenberry and John Ellis, three each. Davis had one sack also.

Quandez Lee had one tackle and one fumble recovery. Josh Short, Keven Black and Tiawan Obey had one tackle each.

Coach Lance Pogue

It was a milestone night for head coach Lance Pogue. It was his 175th win overall since becoming head coach and his 100th game coached at South Panola in seven seasons.

Thursday’s win was his 91st win at South Panola for an overall record of 91-9.

Through this game Pogue has six district championships, four state championships and one national championship while at South Panola.

With only nine losses in seven seasons Pogue said they had played a heck of a schedule.
“We won a lot of big games. We went to a national type schedule allowing us to win a national championship in 2010. We’ve set some milestones.”

 Pogue said, “I’m proud of the guys because it’s all about them. This game gives us an undefeated division record and No. 1 seed like we wanted. We wanted to play well tonight and we did that without three starting offensive lineman. Hopefully they’ll all be back next week. I was proud of the offense for playing shorthanded but the guys really responded. They played good on defense and special teams.

“I’m proud of this team because we’re a blue collar team and nothing flashy,” Pogue continued. “We sometimes make some mistakes but they keep fighting back to overcome that. I’m really excited about our opportunity in the playoffs.” 

Tyler Pogue was happy for his dad.

“I’m real happy for him that he’s been able to coach 100 games at one place and get 91 wins. That’s a pretty good drive for him.”

With only nine loses in seven years Tyler said, “He’s my daddy and I have to say he’s pretty good but others might not. He’s doing a good job, I believe.”

 Lifetime manager Von Sanford was excited for his Tigers.

He said, “I think we’re going to the state championship and I want another ring and be No. 1. I love the Tigers.”

If Sanford gets another ring it will be his 11th ring.

The Tigers will host Region 2-6A No. 4 seed Northwest Rankin who beat Murrah 35-28.

Madison Central is the No. 1 seed after defeating Greenville Weston 41-12. Warren Central is No. 2 after beating Columbus 21-14. At No. 3 is Starkville who beat Clinton 24-7.

Behind South Panola were Tupelo, Grenada and Desoto Central.