By Brad Greer
A majority of South Panola fans filed into Robert H. Dunlap Stadium Friday night expecting to see their undefeated and No. 1 ranked Tigers to cakewalk over Madison Central in the round one of the North 6A State Playoffs.

It has been 20 years, 1995, since South Panola has lost in the first round of playoffs. They lost to Warren Central 14-6.

South Panola had already soundly defeated the Jaguars 24-6 earlier in the season so it should not have been a problem, right?

Apparently Madison Central did not get the memo as the Jaguars used two long scoring plays and a opportunistic defense that forced four turnovers to shock South Panola 14-8 in front of a stunned home crowd.

Madison Central (8-5) who had to win its final three game of the regular season just to sneak into the playoffs, advances to Friday’s second round where they will host district foe Warren Central who blasted Tupelo.

“We had chance after chance to put the ball into the end zone but just could not capitalize on the opportunities when we had them. I give all the credit to coach (Brad) Peterson and his staff over there, they had a great game plan coming into the game and executed some key plays on offense,” said South Panola head Lance Pogue.

“Like I told the kids after the game, we have been fortunate a few times this year with the ball bouncing in a our favor and tonight just was not our night to get those breaks. Things happen like that in football games, I have been on the other side of the coin and know how it feels. We had a touchdown dropped at the end of the first half then had a interception return called back because of a holding call. We had two chances to score inside the red zone and could not convert. Like I said before it just was not our night,” said Pogue.

South Panola (11-1) took a 2-0 lead at the eight minute mark of the first quarter when defensive end Drelan Porter sacked Jaguar quarterback Jack Walker in the endzone for a safety. Porter made his presence felt early on as he forced and recovered a Walker fumble on the game’s opening series.

 The score stayed that way until midway though the second quarter when Madison Central marched 89 yards on ten plays to take a 7-2 lead as Walker connected with Will Brooks on a 39-yard touchdown pass at the 6:44 mark.

The Jaguars extended their lead to 14-2 later in the period as Walker and Brooks hooked up again, this time on a 55-yard pitch-and-catch, with Michael Kroaze adding the PAT.

South Panola finally got their offense in gear on its following possession as runs of 41 and 18 yards by Oluwain Hoskins gave the Tigers a first-and-goal on the Madison Central six yard-line.
After Hoskins was dropped for no gain on first down, quarterback Tyler Pogue’s pass into the endzone was dropped for a sure touchdown. Two plays later, Hoskins was stuffed inside the one on fourth down with 31 seconds left in the half.

South Panola looked to have gotten the break it was looking for midway through the third quarter when Turner Rotenberry picked off a Walker pass and returned it 26 yards for an apparent touchdown but it was negated due to a defensive holding call.

The Tigers would not to be detoured as on its possession, Donald Twilley directed a six-play; 52 yard scoring drive capped off by a 24- yard scamper to close the margin to 14-8 as Steven Collins PAT was blocked. South Panola kept the ball exclusively on the ground in the third quarter, collecting 122 yards South Panola was in prime position to take the lead during the fourth quarter as twice they turned the ball over on downs inside the Jaguar 15 yard-line.  The Tigers last gasp came with 1:54 remaining but a Pogue pass was tipped off the hands of Twilley into the arms of defensive back A. J. Brown.

Madison Central then ran out the last 52 seconds to set off a wild celebration that was surely heard back in Madison.

South Panola out gained Madison Central 334-272 in total yardage including 325 yards on the ground. Hoskins led the way with 121 yards on 17 carries while Market followed with 13 carries for 94 yards. Twilley registered 72 yards on 14 totes and a touchdown to go along with a interception. Turner Rotenberry had one carry for 51 yards while Cole Rotenberry had one carry for two yards and one reception for nine yards.

Porter led the South Panola defense with four solo tackles and one assist, Derrick Sanford, Kasey Hankins and Ladarrius Rudd chipped in with three stops each. K T. Pegues, Taiwan Obey and O’Bryan Goodson collected two tackles. Kentravious Benson added an interception.