By Ike House
Football season has started for the North Panola Cougars as they lost 36-6 to Horn Lake in the Oxford jamboree Saturday night.
No matter what they tried, North Panola quarterback Kenneth Jefferson could only find Sylvonta Oliver one time for a 30-yard touchdown pass towards the end of the game. The Cougars’ two-point attempt failed.
The game got off to a bad start for the Cougars after stalling on their first drive. On the first defensive series for the Cougars, Horn Lake took advantage of holes in the defense scoring on a 70-yard run.
After the PAT was good, the Eagles led 7-0 as the Cougars were looking for an answer. But after a false start that stalled the drive the Cougars punted again.
On the second play of the drive the Eagles scored again on 20 yard pass that took the Eagles up 13-0 with the failed PAT.
Both teams had a couple of failed series but the Eagles scored shortly after receiving a punt from the Cougars on an 18-yard run for the 20-0 lead.
The Cougars needed an answer but still could not find one after turning the ball over on a fumble. The Eagles put more points on the board with a short drive and an 18-yard run for the 27-0 lead.
On the Cougars’ next drive they threw an interception but held the Eagles to a field goal to make the score 30-0.
The Eagles scored after some turnovers by both teams and extended the score to 36-0.
Jefferson was 6-13 for 60 yards with a touchdown and interception.
Leading the Cougars in rushing was Jamal Leverson and Jefferson with 13 yards each. Lavonta Towns had two yards on three carries.
Oliver had three catches for 35 yards. Clarence Taylor had a catch for 13 yards. Jarvis Echlos had a catch for 10 yards and Jonathan Harris had a catch for two yards.
On the defensive side Demarco Smith led the team with four tackles. Brandon Wilbourn, Towns and Oliver had two tackles each. Malcolm Lyons had a tackle and a sack. Gerardo Brown and J. J. Toliver had one tackle each.
With the scrimmage season over, the Cougars turned their attention to 4A Rosa Fort Friday night. The Cougars will travel to Tunica for a 7 p.m. non-conference contest.