By Ike House
North Panola and Rosa Fort have one of the biggest rivalries in North Mississippi and began their seasons with a big matchup.
The Cougars came out with the 38-14 victory and not only was it the Cougars’ first win, it was also new head coach Carl Diffee’s first win as a head coach.
“It feels great man. It just feels great,” Diffee said. “It feels good to be 1-0. Now we got to be 1-0 next week.”
The story of the night was how dominant the Cougar defense proved. The Cougars did not allow any touchdown and held the Lions to 22 carries for -40 yards, 7-16 passing for 50 yards, one interception and caused four turnovers.
“It’s rewarding to go from allowing 36 points last week to no touchdown this week,” Diffee said. “Coach Cobb put together a great game plan to stop this offense.”
In the first quarter North Panola’s offense was efficient when it came to moving the ball but could not finish their drives. Even though the offense could not score they were the first to score as Rhysonne Bishop was the first to score on defense after causing a safety.
“We just had some mental errors and we did not convert things we practiced. But we did not leave any points on the field in the second half,” Diffee said.
 But it was not long before the Lions returned the favor as their defense scored on a 96-yard interception return. That score took the score to 6-2 after a failed two-point conversion.
After two stalled drives, Cougar Sylvonta Oliver showed his athleticism by returning a punt for 50 yards and setting the Cougars up with great field position on the Lions 17.
 However, the Cougars lost the ball on a fumble and the Cougar defense had to step up and force a punt.
The Cougars nor the Lions would see the end zone until 1:01 left in the first half when the Cougars scored on a six play, 53-yard drive that ended with a Kenneth Jefferson six-yard run. The score was 8-6 after a missed PAT.
In the third quarter, the Cougars scored again on a Bishop three-yard run with 8:16 left in the quarter. The score remained 14-6 after the failed two-point attempt.
Later in the quarter the Lions closed the gap as the Cougars gave up two points on a safety after a bad snap on a punt went into the end zone.
After both teams stalled, Demarco Smith came up with a fumble recovery that gave the ball back to the Cougars.
It only took two plays for the Cougars to score. After a 13-yard run by Bishop, Tyler Shorter took the ball 15 yards for a touchdown. The Cougars led 20-8 as the two-point attempt failed again.
On the next defensive drive for the Cougars, Malcolm Lyons pulled down his first interception of the season. On the next drive Oliver scored on a 10-yard run for the 26-8 lead as the two-point attempt failed.
After another fumble recovery by Bishop, the Cougars scored on a 18-yard run by Shorter. Lavonta Towns took in the two point conversion run for the final score 34-8.
 Quarterback Kenneth Jefferson finished the game completing seven of 15 passes for 80 yards and 16 yards rushing off three carries and one touchdown.
Leading the rushers were Jamal Leverson with eight carries for 110 yards and Shorter with five carries for 64 yards and two touchdowns.
Bishop had 47 yards on of four carries and a touchdown. Lavonta Towns had four carries for 25 yards and a catch for five yards. Oliver had one carry for 10 yards and a touchdown, one catch for a yard and 105 punt return yards.
Jarvis Echols had three catches for 30 yards and Jamarvis Echols had two catches for 22 yards. Jonathan Harris had two catches for 15 yards. The Cougars finished the game with 272 yards rushing.
Leading the defense was Bishop with five and a half tackles, two tackles for a loss, a fumble recovery and half a sack.
“He (Bishop) has not played a game for us since Aberdeen,” Diffee said. “He’s a football player. He came off the edge and caused two turnovers and turned around to bust some big runs at quarterback.”
Other tacklers were Stan Gross with four tackles, one tackle for a loss and a sack. Lyons had four tackles, one tackle for a loss, a deflection and an interception. J. J. Toliver had three tackles. Smith had two tackles, one sack and a fumble recovery. Brandon Wilbourn had two tackles and half a sack. Montreal Conner had one tackle and a pass deflection. Oliver, Spencer Higganbothan, Towns, Jarvis Echols, Shorter, Quadarius Jones and Davaris Leverson all had one tackle each.
The Cougars will be at home next week against Coahoma AHS. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
 “I respect every opponent and I believe Coahoma Ag. has some great players,” Diffee said.