Cougars look to make it 6-0

By Ike House
North Panola will be traveling tonight to face off against the Manassas Tigers, a team they faced last year and defeated with ease. But the Tigers are known for being an unpredictable team with all of their athletes and speed.
“This week is still business as usual for us. We are focusing on us as much as them. We tell our guys every Friday night that the real game is played against ourselves and our standard,” Head coach Carl Diffee said adding “with that being said, Manassas presents some challenges for us with their team speed. However, we’ve seen it before and know we must keep them in front of us on defense.”
When the Cougars faced the Tigers last year, they defeated them with a balanced offense with over 200 yards on both the ground and in the air.
The Cougars have been a run team this season with more yards on the ground than in the air this year.
“I say every week that the game dictates the plan of attack and we go into each game prepared to attack every inch of the field,” Diffeesaid adding “sometimes we do and sometimes we don’t. The game determines the run pass variety.”
On defense the Cougars have been exceptional with all of the big plays they have made. On a defense that is filled with several of young players, they are talented causing nine turnovers so far (four fumbles, four interceptions and a safety.)
“Defensively we played a pretty good game last week. I thought the kids flew around and rallied to the football. Good things happen when 11 guys pursue the ball,” Diffee said.
“Things like a fumble recovery because your johnny on the spot or pursuing the ball once it’s thrown on the defensive line and winding up as a lead blocker for a pick six,” he added.
The Cougars were also able to flip the field last week with punter David Burton coming back and putting the ball inside the 20 on multiple occassions. He also had some big plays on defense in his first game back due to personal reasons.
The Cougars also have young players on both sides of the ball that will look to make some big plays on the ball and help lead the Cougars to a win in their first time in North Memphis.
The Cougars will kick off tonight at 7 p.m.